


Let Them Eat Sylleblossoms

by awesomyth



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Character Development, Gen, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, Sibling Bonding, Teenage Rebellion, mild bodyhorror, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2020-12-02 02:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomyth/pseuds/awesomyth
Summary: Hearing the voices of the Gods is hard enough, now recently orphaned Lunafreya and her brother Ravus are held hostage under an empire that plans to use them as tools. But Lunafreya isn’t bowing to them so easily; she’s dedicating herself to their downfall and to saving the world from their destruction. Traumatized adolescent to rebellious teen to revolutionary young woman. Lady Lunafreya has plans of her own.





	1. The Fall of Tenebrae

**Author's Note:**

> The story is meant to depict Lunafreya's difficult life under the terroristic empire. It beings at her very first appearance as a child and ends just before the events of Kingsglaive. I wanted to depict her has a human being with emotions and hardships and not just a love interest for the hero. Enjoy! :)

“I heard the voice of God last night.”

“Did you? What did it sound like?”

“Like a grumpy, loud old man!”

Prince Noctis laughed so hard that he doubled over in the wheelchair that Lunafreya was pushing. The young Oracle-to-be giggled as she pushed the chair over a particularly thick root. The forest was lush and green but a bit cold for the day, possibly from the wind catching the misty waterfall and dampening the air. It would have been proper protocol for the Guard to escort the young royals, but Lunafreya had insisted on delivering Noctis herself. They had used the opportunity to catch up on all that the other had missed, easing mutual loneliness. Of course, Lunafreya had her elder brother, but Ravus always proclaimed that he was too old to hang around a bunch of kids.

So Lunafreya and Noctis set out into the forest and towards the rendezvous, sharing stories about Ravus’s new fencing class and of disgusting green soup to distract Noctis from his injuries. When word spread that the young prince had been attacked (rumors swore that Nifelheim had some hand in it), Queen Sylva extended an invitation to Lucis to heal him. Lunafreya was both concerned and excited to see her younger friend, and she made it her personal task to cheer him up every task of the way. As they neared the part of the forest where both Lucian and Tenebraen soldiers stood guard, King Regis, Queen Sylva, and Ravus waved the children over.

Smiling, Lunafreya pushed the wheelchair-bound Noctis further, just as a sound broke above the treetops. Between the peak of green trees was a sky full of dark metals. One armored soldier dropped down, then five, then eighteen. It rained more and more Niflheim soldiers and one of notable bulky designs was the last to fall, landing perfectly on his two feet with his enormous sword tipped into the earth. The General.

Blade met blade as King Regis and the General cross swords. With the power of the ring on his finger, the King tripled his arsenal and telekinetically sent his swords straight through the General’s plated chest, pinning him to the large trunk of a try like a mere fly.

All of what was happening became a blur. Lunafeya didn’t remember reaching King Regis so quickly, but he was already lifting a frightened and confused Noctis from the wheelchair. A turn of her head and she reeled back at the image of a sword thrusted through her mother’s chest. Queen Sylva’s body fell, and Ravus wailed over her still form. She didn’t remember King Regis grabbing her hand, but already he was yanking her away from the chaos as Lucian and Tenebraen soldiers fell one after the other. Fire was everywhere.

Her mother was dead and the world was burning.

But Ravus…

Struggling to keep up with the King’s long strides, Lunafreya risked a glance back to where her brother was still hunched over their dead mother. Ravus caught her eyes, then he traced the King’s movements. Even from the distance she could see how his eyes looked helpless and betrayed. “King Regis!” he shouted to the retreating king as if he could save them, as if he could stop all of this madness. “Help us!”

The Niflheim soldiers gained on them. King Regis never broke his pace, and Noctis looked on over his father’s shoulder in horror with the firelight reflecting in his eyes. They had each other, Lunafreya knew. With or without her, King Regis and Noctis had a home to go back to together. She would only slow them down, and she couldn’t leave Ravus behind.

She let go of the King’s hand.

The King registered too late what she had done. He glanced back only once to see the soldiers closing the distance between them and decided regrettably that he could not stop. Noctis extended his little hand to reach for her, but the growing distance between them was too great. He called out to her- _Luna_ instead of Lunafreya, because he never could pronounce it quite right and settled for something shorter. It nearly broke her heart. Lunafreya stood her ground and watched them go.

_ _ _Be_ safe, Noctis. ____ _ _Know that I watch over you always... _ _

The metallic sound of the soldiers clanked louder as they corralled around her. A large metal gloved hand sat roughly on her shoulder, and she was forcefully turned around to face the General. His armor is all sharp angles and menace and reminds her of a melting monster made of silver. Somewhere in the armor, a red light breathes. The General uses his planted sword to kneel down one one knee but still keep his hand on her shoulder. She looks at where she imagine his eyes to be in the helmet and holds his gaze. She fights back the tears that want to burst from her eyes.

“Little Lunafreya,” rumbled a gravelly voice. “You’re at Niflheim’s mercy now. If you run, we will catch you.”

“You killed my mother,” her little voice wavers. “You killed everyone…”

“And if you think about rebelling, you will too. You may be the next Oracle but we hold leverage. Do you surrender?”

The General snapped his metal fingers. On command, a soldier shoved a disheveled Ravus forward and twisted his arm behind his back. A sword was held to her brother’s throat, and his Adam’s apple bobbed over it anxiously.

“No!” Lunafreya surged forward, but the General shoved harder than necessary at her shoulder and sent her straight to the ground. The mossy floor stained her white coat green, and she was more shocked at his audacity to push her than at having the wind knocked out of her. She sat up on her hands and knees in defeat and bowed her head ever so slightly. She hated every second of it. “I...I surrender.”

“You surrender to Niflheim,” the General goaded.

She hated him even more. “I surrender to Niflheim.”

“As do I,” Ravus added in quickly as the sword retreated from his throat. He stepped forward but paused, daring a look at the General. The General stood and turned his back on them, barking orders to his retinue as Ravus raced to Lunafreya’s side. He knelt down and held her tightly to him, making promise after promise that everything was going to be okay. That King Regis would come back for them and that they would be safe.

Lunafreya hugged him back, but she did not believe him. She cried into his arm and made sure to glare over his bicep whenever the General was looking. The smoke of the emblazoned forest was burning her lungs and stinging her eyes, and through the thick black curling wisps she could make out a figure walking towards them. No, the man was _swaggering_. His strides were easy and carefree as he approached them, as if the forest was not on fire and their mother hadn’t been killed. With a showy tip of his hat, the man slightly bowed and extended a hand. When neither Nox Fleuret took it, he cleared his throat.

“Given the situation I can understand your...apprehension. But trust me when I say that there are better places to talk rationally than here.”

“Chancellor Izunia,” the sole human soldier called as he approached with a dormant gun laid to his shoulder. “General Glauca has orders to keep those two alive.”

“I have received similar orders, yes, thank you, good bye,” Chancellor Izunia rushed and waved his hand dismissively. The soldier hesitated awkwardly before walking away. The Chancellor glanced back down at the siblings and gave a wink. “You will be safe with me. Or would you rather take your chances with General Glauca?”

Lunafreya and Ravus looked past him. General Glauca kicked over a Tenebraen soldier’s corpse and stomped on her head. They couldn’t look away fast enough.

“With me then,” Chancellor Izunia confirmed and this time offered both hands. Ravus seized it first and Lunafreya took it hesitantly after.

They strode through the burning forest. Lunafreya dared a look at where her mother’s corpse laid curled in on herself as if sleeping. The moss beneath her was stained crimson and her crown had toppled from her head. The Chancellor spared a dismissive look to the fallen queen and urged them on.

The treetops parted as a Nifelheim ship descended to hover over the grass. The soldiers all filed in swiftly and finally the General. Ardyn lead Luna and Ravus up the ship ramp and found them seating among crates. Ravus lifted Lunafreya atop one so that she could sit. She could see the fear in his eyes when he faced the Chancellor.

“What fate do you harbor for us?” he dared to ask.

The Chancellor looked past Ravus and straight at Lunafreya. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her but she held his gaze. The cheerful smile he had previously worn seemed to falter a slight. “Well, as long as we have the Oracle on our side, fate should work in your favor. And,” he added with a returning grin, “as long as you do exactly as we say, we’ll all get along swimmingly!” He clapped Ravus’ shoulder reassuringly but the feeling was not mutual.

“But I’m not an Oracle,” Lunafreya interjected. “My mother…” She wanted to continue but her voice hitched. Since Queen Sylva was dead, it only made sense that Lunafreya was to replace her. “...I have not yet started my training.”

“Then now is a good time as ever,” the Chancellor mocked sympathy. “Prince Noctis has been chosen as the True King of Legend and he’ll need his oracle. You wouldn’t want to fail him. You wouldn’t want him to die, would you…?”

Her hands were shaking in her lap no matter how hard she tried to pinch them still. “No…”

“She will not fail,” Ravus answered for her sternly. Gentiana has already appeared to her. She will begin her training once we return to our domain of Fenestala Manor.”

The ship rocked too much for Lunafreya’s liking and she felt air sickness from the altitude. It unsettled her that something so heavy was gliding like a feather on the air, and the length of the trip did not ease her anxiety. The automaton soldiers- Magitek Troops, they were called- unnerved her with their stiff stillness. They all faced the ramp as if ready at any moment to jump ship. Lunafreya had been educated on the tools of the empire, but seeing them in person was slightly disorienting. Soldiers without empathy that never rejected command were dangerous, and here she was surrounded by them and the general that gave them orders.

At last the ship landed on one of the bridgeports leading to the manor and the ship door rose open. Lunafreya slid down the crate and held Ravus's hand as they descended the ramp, led by Ardyn. When passing General Glauca, Lunafreya straightened her spine and raised her chin. She silently vowed that he would not see her cowering ever again.

The staff of Fenestala Manor was already rushing to meet them before they even made it halfway across the bridge. Elderly Maria was the first to to reach them, and she wrapped both Luna and Ravus in a tight hug as she sobbed.

"Thank the Astrals that you're safe!" Maria whined and crushed them to her boney self. They welcomed the embrace; she had been there to cure fevers and bake birthday cakes from scratch and play hide and seek. Her familiar scent of tea cakes have them the most secure feeling that they had felt since the day began. But Lunafreya could still see the Niflheim guards posted around the manor. They had not only invaded their land but their very home too.

"Mother is dead…" she said with a forcibly even voice. The words stung her throat.

Maria's eyes went as round as saucers when she gazed down at them. "What-"

"Ah yes, please see to it that the two of them are cleaned up and refreshed," Ardyn causally ordered Maria. The old woman gave him a disgusted look and guided them the rest of the way across the bridge. The rest of the servants flocked around them with a flurry of questions and prayers and concern as they passed, but Lunafreya couldn't bring herself up to speak and relive the horror.

The soldiers stepped aside to let them pass when they reached the double doors. Guards inside and out. Furniture had been overturned and potted plants broken during the chaos. Maria urged them up the stairs and stopped at Lunafreya's room- the closest one in the long hall. Her frail hands held Lunafreya's shoulders.

"Lock your door. Slide something in front of it and don't let anyone in until I get back. I'll get you to your room as well, Ravus."

Ravus nodded slowly and frowned at his sister. She frowned back because nothing more could be said with words. She watched Maria and Ravus hurry down the hall, and only when they were no longer in sight did she go inside her room, shut, and lock the door. She pressed her back against the wood and slid down. Her arms wrapped around her legs and she pressed her forehead to her knees.

_ Why...why… _

Had King Regis and Prince Noctis made it out? Was her staying behind all for nothing? She had no way of telling. When Nifelheim took over all those years ago, Tenebrae had been untouched and allowed to thrive at the cost of no unapproved technology. They were meant to be cut off from the outside so as not to seek help against Nifelheim, and moments like these when a crisis was occurring was the exact time to call for help. But there was no way to pass information inward or outward. For all that she knew, King Regis and Prince Noctis could have perished. For all they knew, Lunafreya and her brother were as good as dead.

Luna felt a change in the air. She was no longer alone in the room.

A darkly clad woman stood near the window. Her eyes were short and her hands clasped politely in front of her. When she spoke, it was in an accent that Lunafreya did not recognize.

“Little Lunafreya...,” she whispered softly. “Her Majesty Sylva has returned to the aether. The inherited role of Oracle passes to your hands.” At last her eyes opened, but Lunafreya could not tell what color that they were. The color shifted like sunlight on ice but there was a sympathetic warmth in them. “Your pilgrimage to become Oracle and aid the True King begins-”

“Wait!’ Lunafreya quickly gathered herself from the floor and stood. “Why...my mother’s death. Why did the Gods do nothing to stop it…?”

The Messenger Gentiana made no visible reaction, but the corners of her dainty mouth did tilt downward ever so slightly. “...the Gods do not interfere with the will of man. They may only guide them.” Gentiana came forward and placed Lunafreya’s hands in her own. “You must see your mother’s path to its destination. The True King needs his Oracle or it will all be for naught.”

Lunafreya felt her knees buckle. She went down and sobbed, still clutching Gentiana’s cold hands for strength but weeping from the weight of it all. During Ravus’s fencing lessons, Queen Sylva- their self-appointed instructor- had drilled into his training that change and adapting was an unstoppable force of nature. The more gradual that it happened, the easier it was to adapt. But sometimes change was so forceful that no one could see it coming. It wasn’t a fair game of parry or calculated strikes but a killing blow from a blind spot. In times like these, their mother advised, the best approach was to make firm where you stood. Better to fall from your feet than to be on your knees.

Lunafreya was already breaking that rule. For all that she wanted to march right up to General Glauca and choke him with his own cape, she could not bring herself to stand.

Right now, she needed to grieve.

Gentiana joined her on the floor and touched her cheek. Luna turned her face into her palm, welcoming the comfort and wiping away the mess on her face. The Messenger titled up her chin. “Be strong, little blossom…”

And then she was gone, leaving Lunafreya alone in the empty room that was starting to look far too large for someone so small. She had tog get up. She had to get moving. Luna cleaned her face in the sink and washed her hands. Per the occasion, Lunafreya decided to dress in all black.

Maria did a double take when she saw her, and Ravus gave her a somewhat warning glance. They accompanied her own the hall as they made their way to where they had been requested in the manor’s grand sitting room. The sitting room had been used for practically every occasion: holidays, birthdays, weapon training sessions and homeschooling. Now it was where the Niflheim ambassadors were convening. They took up every cushioned chair and sofa and loveseat in the room, and MTs stood dormant by the wall to ceiling windows. Servants were back into corners and watching every subtle movement. They looked like mice surrounded by cats.

Lunafreya and Ravus seated themselves at the piano bench the only available seating from them. It faced their audience just enough to honor them at least some agency in the scenario, and they straightened their backs and raised their chins as their mother had taught them to do when facing diplomats. Ardyn Izunia was the only one standing, and he leaned off of his perch from the wall to walk towards them leisurely.

“Such an interesting statement, Lunafreya. Are you having a…” he turned to one of the nearest MTs and leaned forward dramatically with his hand to his ear, as if the automaton has spoken, “what’s that? Ah yes, that’s just the term! Thank you!” He pointed a finger in their direction. “Is this what you call a ‘goth phase’? A bit young for a start. How old are you again?”

“Have you no decency to respect a girl in mourning? My mother is dead because of your forces,” Lunafreya deadpanned. Ravus pinched her but she ignored him. She had no time for the Chancellor’s childish prodding and she refused to play along with his games. “I will be thirteen, come this September…”

Ardyn spread his arms dramatically. “Splendid!” His hands clapped together and echoed in the room. “As the new co-heads of the house of Fleuret, Nifelheim would like to extend its congratulations and sympathies.”

Lunafreya glared. Again, Ravus pinched her. Ardyn continued.

“Now, as far as your titles go it is customary to anoint you as Lord and Lady respectively. Lord Ravus, as the elder by four years, will be the technical head of affairs. You will see through, approve and reject, and be involved in the affairs that come with Nifelheim’s new reign over Tenebrae. Keeping up so far?”

Ravus nodded slowly.

“And for our Lady Lunafreya.” He fixed his eyes on her. She swore that he looked at her like she recognized her. “You will be the youngest Oracle in history. Carry out your role and we won’t interrupt the procedure. You’ll be allowed to continue your line’s legacy.” His hand waved upward vaguely. “And aid the True King and all that...is that understood?”

The True King. Prince Noctis. Noctis who was still wounded and needed a wheelchair to get around until he recovered. Noctis who was supposed to have been healed. Noctis who excitedly told her that his father had gotten him a red ball and even spent a whole day paying with him with it. This small, eight year old boy who Lunafreya had befriended and seen as someone to protect. She was young but he was younger. And she’d have to carry most of the burden’s weight until he was old enough to share it with her. She was more than willing. For him, for her remaining family. For Tenebrae, the World. For herself.

Lunafreya nodded her head. She and her brother were graciously dismissed and the servants with them. Guards escorted them back to their rooms. Lunafreya had wanted to speak with Ravus alone about what to do in their predicament, but they were intentionally kept separated for the time being. She was lead back to her room and encouraged to stay there. Meals would be brought to her via servants.

Come night time, everyone would sleep and pray that the chaos had just been a bad dream for them to awaken from. Until then, she sat on her bed and leafed through the pages of the Cosmogony book, a family relic that her mother had recently passed unto her. The familiar relic smelled like the sylleblossoms fields that she helped her mother care for every morning. The responsibility would fall to her now.

She pressed the book to her chest and shut her eyes.


	2. Childhood Games

The crescent moon was a smile in the sky. Sleep would not come to her.

Lunafreya wrapped herself in a silk robe. She darted to her room doors in slippers that muffled her steps on the marble floor. The forest fire had been extinguished but the smell of ash had carried through the wind and somehow into the manor’s air conditioning. She tried not to breathe it in, lest she have to relive the memory of the burning.

Getting to Ravus was her current mission.

Luna knelt down by the door and slide a hand mirror under the gap between the wood and marble. The reflection revealed an MTs foot posted outside her door. She quickly pulled the mirror back in. The door was no longer an option. She didn’t know enough about Nifelheim technology to know if she could even outsmart the automaton soldier.

Unless…

She looked back at the mirror. Flattening herself to the cold ground so that she could peer underneath, she gave her arm enough room to reach all the way back behind her and then thrust forward. The hand mirror went sliding fast across the floor and out of her view. The MT was active in mere seconds and went chasing after the disturbance. Luna scrambled to her feet and opened the door as slight as she could. She squeezed her body through, closed it behind her and took off down the hall before the MT could see her.

The servants hadn’t lit the candles tonight. Whether it was from fear of another fire or in silent mourning, Luna was unsure. She crept along the walls and hid behind tall potted plants at the slightest sounds. From one pot she had collected stones that held the foliage in place. They came in handy whenever MTs were posted and made easy distractions for her to sneak pass. She didn’t dare look at her mother’s bedroom.

At last the hall lead her to Ravus’s bedroom. The MT there was marching back and forth, the first one that she had seen in motion all night. There were no more plants to hide, only a tapestry of the House of Fleuret insignia that extended along the whole wall. Lunafreya grabbed the fabric and slid behind it, skirting along the wall whenever the MTs back was turned. A passerby would see her legs moving from the knee down beneath the tapestry, so she made sure to pause whenever the MTs red eyes shined in her direction. She scooted as far as the tapestry allowed, waited, and tossed a rock in the halls in the opposite direction. The stone skittered down the staircase and the MT was after it in an instant.

She ran. Tugging on the door handle, she found that it was locked. Panic flooded her belly. Of course Ravus would lock his bedroom door.

“Ravus,” she whispered desperately. “Ravus it’s me, Lunafreya! Please open the door!”

The responding sound was metal coming up the staircase. She jerked her head in time to see the top of the MTs helmet ascending. Ravus’s bedroom door opened within the same second and she was snatched inside. Her brother shut the door immediately and locked it once more. When he turned on her, his face was hot.

_“What do you think you’re doing-”_

“I needed to see you-”

“There are heavy guards at every corner-”

“I saw them but I-”

“You have to return to your room immediately-”

“I’m _scared_, Ravus. Please...”

Ravus’s face slowly lost its heated color. His eyebrows lost their arch and his face softened. He was still the brother that wanted to protect her. “Lunafreya…” he sighed. If she hadn’t seen how hard he was trying to hold himself together, she could definitely see it now. Lunafreya released her clutch from her robe and wrapped her arms around him. He was returning the embrace and weeping within seconds. For their mother, for their lost home. For everything.

Lunafreya’s eyes stung, the only thing that they could currently did since she had run out of tears to shed. “We must care for each other now, Ravus. And Maria...and everyone. We have only one another now.”

“I know…” Ravus sniffed and released her. He cleared his throat, regaining his composure. His hands smoothed over his fair hair. “Leave the affairs of politics to me. I can do nothing more, as your role of Oracle will be of more importance. It is the only thing keeping us alive...” Luna knew the truth of his words but hearing them aloud was still disorienting. They were alive only because she was to be Oracle. No other reason. Fulfilling her duty was everyone’s only salvation. She sat down at the ottomon at the edge of his bed and sighed. Something wet touched her ankle and she looked down. A smile broke across her face.

“Pryna!”

The white canine licked her hands and wagged her tail excitedly. Lunafreya raised her into her lap and held her tightly.

“She had been hiding under my bed,” Ravus explained as he pet between the dog’s ears. “But Umbra is yet to be found…”

“He is a messenger,” Lunafreya said hopefully. “Perhaps he escaped to Lucis to bring back aid.”

Something dark crossed Ravus’s face. Pryna retreated from his hand. “Lucis is responsible. Any of their aid will only damn us more.”

“Ravus!” Luna glared. She set Pryna down to glare. “Why would you say such lies? King Regis will-”

“King Regis did not save us before, and he will not do so now!” Ravu sneered. “You were there. You were witness to him leaving mother to die.”

“And _you_ were witness to the bearer of the sword that struck her down!”

There was a clamoring outside that made both of them freeze. The MT’s boots were slightly visible beneath the door and its toes angled right towards them, illuminated by red light. Neither of them moved. Only after a few minutes did the MT turn around and resume its metallic march. Ravus and Lunafreya released the breaths that they hadn’t known they were holding.

“Ravus…” Luna whispered as she held her brother’s hand gently. She didn’t want to argue anymore, and she could tell that he didn’t want to either. “May I stay? We can build a tent like we used to…” she offered. Ravus sighed, but he didn’t object. He gathered the plethora of pillows from his bed and tossed them to the floor. While he removed the blanket and sheet, Lunafreya organized the pillows into a barricade and left the fluffiest ones in the center. They worked together to tie the ends of the sheet on the bedpost. The sheet draped perfectly over the pillows.

“This may only be for tonight,” said Ravus as he crawled into the tent. Lunafreya joined him and patted her lap for Pryna to jump in to. More exhausted than they realized, their eyes became heavy as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The last sound that they heard was the rhythmic steps of the MT marching outside the door. ---

_Luna dreamt of floating in a realm of light. She remembered this place: it was the same one from the dream that she had the previous night. When she heard the voice of God rumbling around her like thunder. Though there was no one else in sight, she knew that she wasn’t alone._

** _“LUNAFREYA NOX FLEURET.”_ **

_It was Bahamaut, God of War and of all other Astrals. Her eyes instinctively tried to find the disembodied voice, but still there was nothing. She managed to awkwardly bow despite having no sense of gravity. She wasn’t sure what to say so she remained silent. Regardless, the Astral continued._

_**“AS THE STAR GROWS EVER RAVENOUS, THE SCOURGE SPREAD EVER FASTER. TO HEAL EOS OF THE STARSCOURGE IS THE ORACLE’S TRUE CALLING.”** Before Lunafreya appeared a spear. She leaned forward. No, a trident. The Trident of the Oracles was three pronged and made of dark metal. It felt cold when she set it against her palm. Lunafreya recalled her mother wielding it whenever she was to commune with the Gods. It felt disheartening to hold the relic that her mother had last held. For all of its power, it had not saved her. Lunafreya gripped the handle tightly._

_“Mighty Astral Bahamut…” she dared herself to say. She wasn’t quite sure why she was afraid. “I beg to know of my mother...has she crossed over in peace?”_

_There was an awkwardly long silence. For a moment Lunafreya thought that the astral had abandoned her, but a burst of air from behind her sent her hair streaming forward. With one hand still on the trident, she used her free hand to shield her eyes and turn around in the open space. The realm of light had given away to the sylleblossom field. Miles and miles of blue flowers surrounded her, above her a clouded gray sky._

_Ahead of her stood her mother. Queen Sylva smiled and outstretched her arms, and Lunafreya dropped the trident and ran to her. She rushed into the embrace and wound her arms tightly around her, knowing that this would be the last hug she would ever receive. Her mother held tightly to her and buried her face into her hair. However long that they stayed that way was not nearly enough time._

_“Dear Lunafreya...brave, brave Lunafreya…” Queen Sylva soothed. She released her daughter just enough to hold her by the shoulders. They held each other’s gazes with affectionate intensity. “I would hold you for eternity if such a fate was merciful to let me. But this moment will have to be enough…”_

_“Please stay…” Luna bit her lip._

_The sylleblossoms rippled all around them. Queen Sylva took a step back, and when Lunafreya tried to step forward to stay close, the distance between them somehow increased. The ocean of flowers was pulling her mother away from her. Queen Sylva’s hair released from it’s regal style and flowed around her like silk. She smiled the way that she always had when everything was still right in the world._

_“When the world falls down around you and hope is lost...when you find yourself alone amid a lightless place…” A single tear slid down her face, but her smile never faltered. “Look to the distance. Know that I am there, and that I watch over you always…”_

_Lunafreya tried to run to her. The world around her slipped from under her feet in a flurry of blue and petals, and her mother sunk far below beneath her. Her mother was slipping away farther and farther._

_“Farewell, dear Lunafreya. Be strong for your brother...”_

Lunafreya awoke at the sudden breach of sunlight.

Sometime during her slumber Ravus had moved her to the bed and covered her in the blankets and pillows. She found herself alone in the room, and Pryna wasn’t under the bed or hiding anywhere else. She slid from the bed and found her slippers. If the hot sunlight beyond the curtains was any indication, she had drastically overslept. Maria usually awoke her a little after sunrise, but she assumed that an exception had been made given the events of the day before.

There were no MTs when she entered the hallway. She made her way down the straight hall in awkward silence and went to her bedroom. Bathing and grooming herself quickly, she tried not to think about her dream. She tried not to think about her mother’s smile full of sorrow or the last embrace that she would ever feel. Shaking away the thoughts, she dressed in black and was back out the door.

Luna nearly ran into Maria just as she was rushing down the stairs. “Maria!”

“Six, child! Why are you in such a hurry?” The elderly woman adjusted the food tray that she was holding to let Lunafreya pass. “You will miss your meal!”

“I must tend to the sylleblossoms!” Luna spoke quickly as she skirted around her and descended the steps two at a time. It had been a chore of her and her mother to see that the sylleblossom garden was water, lest it dry up from Tenebrae’s humidity. The only way to water such a massive field was to use a rain spell, and Lunafreya was fortunate to have barely matured her experience with the spell. Taking care of the sylleblossoms would be her sole connection to her mother, and she refused to let them parrish with everything else.

Maria was able to keep up with her despite her age. “Lunafreya!” she yelled in the voice that she used whenever she and Ravus were having a dispute. Luna paused instinctively and faced her caretaker respectfully. The elderly woman sighed. “All of the entrances are blocked off by those dreadful MTs. You cannot leave the walls without permission.”

Lunafreya grimaced. “And whom’s permission must I require to leave my own home?”

“That permission would be granted by yours truly,” Ardyn chimed in as he sashayed towards them.

Lunafreya turned to face him. She was not in the mood for this clown. “I will be tending to my sylleblossoms. They are of no threat unless you find them so.”

Ardyn chuckled and clicked the end of his cane against the marble ground. “Your mouth and fashion statements have been very bold, Lunafreya-”

“Lady,” she corrected through clenched teeth. “Lady Lunafreya. A title that you yourself bequeathed, need I remind you.”

“...no need.” Ardyn teasingly raised his hands in defense. “Lady Lunafreya. I will permit you to your self-appointed chores, but I do request that you do not go outside looking like…” he gestured with his cane. “Like a widow.”

Maria cut in before Lunafreya could reply. “The Lady has just lost her mother, Chancellor. Surely you have the heart to let her mourn in a way that does no harm.” When Ardyn acknowledge her with a stiff look, she challenged him with a glare. After a few seconds he waved his hand dismissively. “Go. Water your precious flowers. And when you’re done we will have audience with your brother Ravus in the dining room. Come, I will escort you.”

“I thank you, Chancellor…” Lunafreya retorted. She gave Maria a grateful smile and followed behind him.

There were two MTs posted at the back doors that lead out to the gardens. They stepped aside to let Ardyn through without any verbal command or gesture. Lunafreya stepped out after him and wondered if the MTs somehow could recognize him. They didn’t acknowledge her in the slightest. 

It was her first time tending to the sylleblossoms without her mother present. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine her instructing her. _Feel the moisture of the air. Imagine pulling the water from the mist. Think of it coming out in raindrops and let them fall._ The water spell was simple enough since Tenebrae’s weather was always moist, and sometimes Queen Sylva could bring forth an entire rainstorm. Lunafreya smiled at a memory of having gotten drenched in the rain and chasing Ravus across the sylleblossom fields. She could still hear their mother’s giddy laughter as they attempted to dodge her rain cloud spells.

Lunafreya turned her palms down sharply and then heard a crack of thunder. The rain came down a light sprinkle and then heavy. Flowers bobbed beneath the weight of the water droplets and the ash began to slide away. Within seven minutes the rain had spread to the entire fields, and Lunafreya at last dropped her hands to her sides. She watched the shower spread farther and farther beyond her view. If she squinted she could focus on a single water droplet and watch it fall from sky to earth.

Luna ran.

She didn’t care that the rain was soaking her. She didn’t care that Ardyn had sprung from his chair and gave chase after her. Let the MTs grab her and drag her back. She’d rather have the rain drown her from the inside out than be forced to live like this. The desperation and trauma had driven her mad and she needed to run away from it all.

But the sylleblossom fields couldn’t go on forever. And unless she could suddenly grow wings, the surrounding floating islands above were incredibly out of reach. Lunafreya had to stop at the edge of the garden or she would plummet onto the next floating terrain below. Her lungs screamed from being overworked and she gasped as air rushed back into them. Her clothes were absolutely soaked and clung to her like a second skin. Her hair was stringy and she had to pry some of it out of her mouth. There was a deep chuckle from a distance behind her.

Ardyn had stopped several feet from where she stood. Only after she somewhat gathered her breath did she turn to face him. “Ohhhhh, Lunafreya,” he dragged out each syllable. “How far is the floating region below? One thousand feet? Two thousand feet?.” He extended an arm, summing up the space around them. “Oh perhaps your magic can grant you the gift of flight! Be sensible and return home.”

“I have no home!” Lunafreya snapped. “You’ve taken my home! You’ve taken everything!”

“Ah, but your poor brother is still here. And what about dear Prince Noctis? You would leave them to bear the weight of the world alone? Why, what will the world do without its Oracle?”

Thoughts of Ravus and Noctis and everyone else that counted on her had crossed her mind as she ran. Noctis may have been safe in his own kingdom, she was still unsure, but his destiny as True King could not be fulfilled without her. And what about Ravus? He was still in Fenestala Manor and probably worried sick about her. It was a childish fantasy to think that she could run away and get help when her entire nation was being held hostage.

Her whole world had become a cage.

“Thinking it over?”Ardyn jested but she refused to answer. Instead, she strode right past him. Shaking slightly from the cold and wary of the water in her shoes but with her head held high. She would refuse him this victory over her.

Maria was a frenzy when Lunafreya entered the manor and dripped a puddle onto the floor. She was quickly escorted to her room and made to change into a white dress picked out for her. As far as Maria knew, Lunafreya had attempted the rain spell and miscalculated its strength. She was lucky that Ardyn was there to get it under control before she drowned the entire field. Luna hated that he helped her lie, because now she would undoubtedly owed him for it. She felt even worse for lying to Maria at all.

The elderly woman wasn't a fool either. After getting Lunafreya dried and dressed, she was silent as she combed the tangles from Luna's damp hair. The disappointed wrinkles around her mouth were all that needed to be said. She bundled Luna's soaking discarded clothes and made her way to the door.

"We can only protect you so much, Lunafreya. Please don't make this harder on your brother and I." Maria then left the room without another word. Luna was left frowning at her reflection in the vanity mirror. When her belly growled, she finally ate the food that Maria had brought for her.

The bark that came from beneath her bed startled her. She turned and expected to see Pryna but was instead greeted by Umbra. He ran to her and sat obediently, waiting for her to kneel down and lavish him in pets and scratches. Seeing him brought Lunafreya an incredible amount of relief.

"Oh, Umbra, the world has turned upside down," she sighed as she brought him to her chest. He still smelled like the soaps that she had bathed him in a few days ago, and the only sign that he had been outside was some bits of grass caught in his dark fur. He barked within her arms and shifted, signaling that he wanted to be set down. When she did, Umbra turned around in a circle and stopped so that his left side was facing it. He still had his carry-on satchel strapped to him.

Lunafreya reached into the satchel and felt the spine of a book at her fingertips. It was the very same red-covered book that she had gifted to Noctis when he last arrived. She opened the journal and saw the sylleblossom that she had pressed and stamped to the first page. Turning to the page, she was met with a message in a very messy, childish scrawl.

_Me and dad are safe. I hope you're okay. Please write me back… Noctis_

Lunafreya's heart did a backflip. Noctis was safe. Umbra had made the treacherous journey to deliver his message to her, and with it a restored hope that Lunafreya desperately needed. She found a pen in her vanity drawer and quickly wrote on the parallel page.

_My prayers have been answered. I am grateful to the Six that you and your father have returned to Lucis. Ravus and I are safe for now. I will begin training as Oracle to see this through to the end. Please, keep me in your prayers… -Lunafreya_

Lunafreya wanted to tell him so much more. About the Chancellor and the MTs, about her mother. But the prince was still young, and she knew that he would not be able to fully understand no matter how she explained. She solemnly closed the journal and returned it to Umbra's pouch. One day he would understand if, but until then she had work to do.

"Be careful, my dearest Umbra," she whispered as she opened her door and watched the canine take it's leave. She wasn't sure how Umbra would make it past the MTs, but as a messenger of the Gods she doubted that they could stop it.

As previously instructed, Lunafreya met with Ravus and Ardyn in the dining room. Her brother politely pulled out a chair for her but she didn't sit. Instead she took position standing at the head of the table, exactly opposite to Ardyn. She held him with her gaze. "I have received my calling from God. The True King will have his Oracle, but her job will be done on her terms. I require access to my homeland without any required permission. I cannot heal the scourge by staying in these walls." Extending her hand, she focused her energy into her right palm and called for the Trident of the Oracle to appear in it. It came effortlessly. "My training as Oracle begins now."


	3. Winds of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some slight violence. Also, a nice cameo towards the end.

The death of Queen Sylva was ruled an accident. According to Niflheim, a fire broke out during the healing ceremony and she nobly gave her life to ensure the safety of her children. Unfortunately, Tenebraen soldiers were included in the casualties, and there were no bodies left to honor or bury since they were consumed in the flames. This false cover up story was one of the agreements that Lunafreya and Ravus had to commit to. Both doubted that anyone believed it either way.

Lunafreya sat kneeling before the statute of Oracle Rosaire Aqua Fleuret. The statue depicted Rosaire as remarkably tall with a pointed chin tilted upward and hair braided back with intertwined ribbons. She was adorned in armor and her left hand wield the ancestral trident, prongs pointed skyward. In the crook of her bent right arm was a round vase with water pouring out of it. The sculptor had put such fine detail in the stone liquid that Luna thought she could hear it trickling out.

Ardyn tapped his cane against her shoulder. “Aren't you finished yet?”

Luna cut him a look and lowered her hands from where they were pressed together in prayer. An Oracle visiting the statues and temples of her predecessors was a well known tradition dating back for centuries. In the past few months since her studies began, she had made her pilgrimage to the temples of Oracles Athena Charis Fleuret and Ursa Petra Fleuret. Each time the Chancellor accompanied her and each time he was a slight nuisance. Luna sighed and stood slowly from her kneeling position. Her knees ached from an entire hour of prayer. “I don’t require an escort, Chancellor. I believe that your MTs are security enough.” She glanced down at the metal soldiers poised at the end of the flight of stairs. Ardyn waved his hand dismissively and began to descend slowly.

“Be quick about it.” Luna shook her head and glanced up at the statue. She tried to imagine her mother standing in this very spot however many years ago. What did their ancestors say to her? What knowledged had she gained? Could they possibly have predicted her demise? Luna waited for Ardyn to be out of ear shot and closed her eyes. “Oracle Rosaire, I thank you for your strength.” Her hand rested on the literal foot of the statue. Behind her eyelids, she received a brief vision of the Oracle bowing her head to her. Something in her proud stance reminded Luna of Ravus. He and the Oracle even shared the same sharp angled features.

Lunafreya met the Chancellor and the MTs at the bottom of the stairs and boarded the airship with them. The next temple, containing the statue of Oracle Amalthea Verus Fleuret, would be the last one set within Tenebrae. Other temples were spread across Eos with some in Accordo, some in Galahd, and one even in Lucis. The latter temple was the one that Lunafreya wondered about. She highly doubted she would be allowed to set foot in Lucis, but her training as Oracle had called her to visit all of her ancestor’s religious sites. Chancellor Izunia had eagerly told her that they would save that particular temple for last.

But even with Lucis being far out of her reach, she was allowed a small piece of it every time that Noctis sent back the journal through Umbra with a message. The black puppy would sometimes leave for days at a time to pass their messages back and forth, and the sight of him with an eager wag to his tail always brought a lightness with it. Back at Fenestala Manor, Luna opened her arms for the canine to reach into and nuzzled the soft fur of his head. She removed the journal from his pouch and turned to the most recent page.

Noctis had drawn a birthday cake in crayon and written _Happy Birthday Luna_ underneath it in red marker. Grinning, Luna laughed at the cheery illustration and pressed the journal to her forehead. The prince’s own birthday had passed the month before: Luna had pressed scented cupcake stickers onto the page for him and written in practiced calligraphy _May your birthday be a wondrous one, Prince Noctis_. It was endearing to see that he had made a mutual attempt to celebrate her own special occasion in light of the distance between them.

Luna returned the journal to Umbra, deciding to write in it later and continued unpacking her suitcase. She paused when someone knocked on her bedroom door and waited for Umbra to dart under the bed before opening it. Maria stood in the door frame holding a tray with a strawberry poke cake. The dessert was layered in white icing and sugar and topped with halves of strawberries in the shape of flowers. Behind her, Ravus held a smaller tray of silver forks and three chalices filled with strawberry lemonade. Pryna barked and ran around Luna’s ankles.

“Happy birthday, Lunafreya!” Maria whispered excitedly as she rushed inside. “We have all of your favorites!”

“Happy birthday, dear sister,” Ravus smiled as he followed in behind her. “How was the temple?”

“Enlightening,” Luna replied and quickly closed the door behind them, ignoring the MTs posted on either side of her door. She joined Ravus and Maria on the picnic-sheet and helped them arrange the food and drink. Maria instinctively laid out a fourth plate and paused awkwardly.“Oracle Iris’s temple faces the sea...it was beautiful! I believe that I saw a unicorn on the coast.”

“Unicorns are not real.”

“You are not real.”

“Am I not?” Ravus reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small square box wrapped with teal paper. “Then perhaps this gift is also not real.” Lunafreya reached for the box but Ravus held it out of her reach. Umbra and Pryna used the opportunity to dive head first into Ravus’s slice of cake.

“Children,” Maria said with a fond look. “Be kind to your brother, Lunafreya. He poured his heart into your gift.”

At last Ravus allowed Luna to snatch the box. She hugged him with one arm and he playfully shoved her away. “Open it, imp.” He made a useless attempt to separate the puppies from his cake slice.

Unwrapping the teal paper and opening the lid, Luna intertwined her fingers with the fine chain and lifted it. From the necklace hung a white crescent moon pendant sided with two stars. She smiled warmly and undid the clasp, and Maria helped er faten the necklace around her neck. Luna touched where it rested on her collarbone.

“It’s beautiful, Ravus…how did you…?”

“I commissioned it early this year,” he explained pridefully. "But it was nearly lost to Nifelheim security upon its deliverance. I am grateful for Maria’s interception.

The old woman huffed. “As if a necklace could secretly be a bomb. I snatched it right out of Ardyn’s disgusting hands.” They knew it to be true. The Chancellor was known to slightly balk whenever Maria sized him up. If he wanted his own meals to be delivered warm and unpoisoned, then he knew when to let Maria have her piece of mind.

The trio finished their desserts and Lunafreya cleaned the icing-covered puppies with napkins. They were interrupted by a knock on the door just as they were tidying up. Maria opened the door and stepped aside when Ardyn instantly entered. He looked annoyingly buoyant.

“A most joyous happy birthday to our Lady Lunafreya!”

Lunafreya chose not to remind him that they had spent the entire morning at the temple without him saying so. And she didn’t care to wonder what suddenly made him remember. “Thank you, Chancellor.”

“I have decided to be generous and allow you to leave the grounds,” Ardyn grinned. “Under the condition that you return in no more than three hours.”

The surprise on their faces was obvious. Ravus looked back and forth between his sister and the Chancellor. He could barely find the words in his confusion. “You intend to let us leave unsupervised?”

“But of course! I suspect that none of you will run away with this opportunity, yes?” Ardyn fixed his eyes on Lunafreya particularly, silently reminding her of her failed attempt from month’s prior. Lunafreya had not forgotten. In the nights when she stared at the fields from her window and tried to imagine how she may have looked darting across them and to the very edge, she entertained the fantasy that maybe she would have been willing to leap. However, the fantasy always ended before she reached the bottom. Even her dreams would not allow her to fly. She feigned a grateful smile.

“Your blessing to depart is much appreciated, Chancellor. We will venture in a carriage and go no farther than the fields...”

“I hope you enjoy your evening stroll, then.” Ardyn tapped his cane to the floor with finality. “Ah yes, a small detail before your departure. General Glauca intends to see the Lord tonight.”

Ravus stiffened. Luna came to stand in front of him without hesitation. “I will see the General. My brother may help Maria secure our carriage.”

“Lunafreya,” Ravus warned and gently moved her aside. “I will...visit the General. Upon his arrival.”

Ardyn regarded the siblings with interest. It was as if he was peering right through them. Right through the brother’s apprehension to see the man that killed their mother and right through the sister that wanted to shield him from reliving the pain of it. Their love for each other would always be their downfall. Lunafreya knew that he was deciding exactly where to twist the knife when he said, “Esteemed General Glauca would be honored to entertain the Oracle’s company.

“He will not,” Ravus bit, fury and protectiveness fully bared. “The General’s request was for I and I alone. Lunafreya will stay out of this affair.”

Normally, Lunafreya would glare. She would size her brother up and demand that he not speak of her as if she were not there. She would argue that he should stop coddling her. But with Ardyn present and clearly trying to get reactions out of them both, indirectly triggering their trauma, she bit her tongue and allowed her brother to speak. She hated that she couldn’t protect him like he was protecting her. Where Lunafreya tried to wear her pain as armor, Ravus wore his as shackles. His anger was easier to peak these days.

Maria stepped forward. “We’ll handle this matter when the time comes. Until then, we leave.” She ushered the children past the Chancellor. When she tried to hold Ravus’s hand and led him aside to console him, he pulled away and walked forward as steadfast as a soldier. Maria sighed and tailed him. Luna followed behind them somberly. The previous mood of celebration had faded. And throughout the carriage ride around the grounds, Ravus had not said a word. Lunafreya couldn’t stand it.

A storm was gathering in the sky and dark clouds boiled above them. When they returned to the manor and Maria had to leave them for dinner preparations, Luna paced after her brother’s fast footsteps.

“Leave me alone, Lunafreya.”

“Ravus, please. Allow me to go with you-”

“No.”

She ran ahead to stand in front of him and block his path from the stairs. “You are afraid. Your face is stone but you are afraid. But you do not have to carry that fear alone.”

“Go chase your unicorns,” Ravus growled as he moved past her and walked up the stairs. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know full well!” She screamed after him and then instantly shrunk from the might in her voice. Ravus paused momentarily to glance back at her. For a very brief moment his hard persona melted, and he was again the young boy with his mother’s blood splattered across his face. But the moment went as fast as it came, and he was turning away and ascending the stairs to the upper hall. Lunafreya was left alone to watch him leave.

_No._

She turned heel, heading for the meeting room instead of her bedroom to dress for dinner. Her heart was thundering and the pressure in her throat was choking, but she forced herself to calm as she shoved open the double doors. General Glauca stood by the window and didn’t turn when she entered. The doors shut firm behind her.

“General Glauca,” she dared as she crossed the empty space. A strike of lightning lit up the dark room and she stilled at the racket of thunder. His armor looked more menacing, and he turned to face her with a sweep of his cape.

“I requested your brother.” He commented monotonously.

“You will have me instead. I demand no harm to him.”

“Who are you to demand anything?”

She was the girl who lost everything. The girl who refused to lose her brother as well. Lunafreya stepped forward until they were an arm’s length from one another. “Your Oracle.”

General Glauca seized her wrist. She registered the action too slow and he yanked her so hard that she felt her shoulder pop. His hand was on her throat.

Luna pounded her fist against his arm and he shoved her to the floor. Landing on her back, she sat up quickly and scooted backwards, feeling where she had bruised her elbows upon landing. General Glauca stepped towards her, illuminated by another lightning strike and knelt down. He stopped just short of stepping on her foot.

“The world has damned either way. Don’t make me rush the process.”

Lunafreya crawled further away and stood. She rushed out just as Ravus was walking in. And she didn’t stop even when he was calling her name.

General Glauca did not join them for dinner. Luna had made sure to wear a jacket so that she could cover where her elbows and wrist were turning purple, and she ate quickly to excuse herself to her room. Ravus came by half an hour after and knocked on her door.

“Lunafreya…”

“Come in…” she said from where her face was turned into a cushioned pillow.

Ravus came to sit at the edge of her bed. “...I apologize for my earlier remarks. I know that your desire is for my safety.” He sighed and reached out a hand to lay on her arm, exactly where her elbow was. “I thank you, Lunafreya.”

She held in her wince. “You are welcome…what did the General tell you?” She moved her arm out of his reach.

“He...offered service.” The look in his eye was hopeful. “If I am lucky, in time I will command the Nifehlheim ranks.”

“...you would…command their soldiers?”

“Yes.”

The weight of it clearly meant something to him, something that Lunafreya could not properly understand. If she was the Oracle, what did that make Ravus? It didn’t feel right to deprive him of a purpose, even if she didn’t agree with it. She reluctantly decided not to tell him about General Glauca’s attack and forced a smile.

“You would make a far better General, Ravus.”

“I should hope so,” he chuckled a bit bitterly. “Goodnight, dear sister.” Ravus left her alone. Luna waited until he closed the door behind him and blinked away the gathering tears. She pressed her eyes shut and willed the pain to go away. A chill cooled her skin.

“Little blossom…”

Luna sat up instantly and tossed the covers aside. “Gentiana!”

She threw her arms around her but quickly pulled away from the discomfort. Gentiana smiled gently and held out a single finger. She tapped the tip of Luna’s nose lightly, and Luna felt a chilling sensation rush from her toes to her fingertips. The ache in her arms and wrist was gone, and Gantiana brought Lunafreya into a hug that was affectionately returned.

“The Oracle, though divine, is still a vessel of flesh and bone. She must be cautious to not bring harm to her form.”

“I know…” Luna sniffed. “Though it would not be General Glauca’s first time bringing harm to an Oracle…”

The woman pet her hair softly. It was clear that she was displeased, but she had prior a\explained to Luna that the will of man could not be interfered with. Comfort was all that she could currently offer. “Rest now, little blossom.”

“Goodnight, Gentiana...” Lunafreya returned to her bed and pulled the blankets over her. When she felt the air regain its warmth, she knew that the Messenger was gone.

It occurred to her that even being the Oracle was not enough to keep her safe.

Lunafreya found Ardyn in the library the next morning. He was leafing through a book half-heartedly and seated at the desk with his feet propped onto it. “I must ask something of you, Chancellor.”

“And what would that be?” He shut the book with a snap. “I must accelerate my training as Oracle.” Luna clasped her hands in front of her. “The future is uncertain. I must assure that I have played my part in this world before my undoing.”

Ardyn eyed her with suspicion. “Interesting choice of words. What is your plan then, may I ask?”

“Your escorting me to the temples is appreciated, but I cannot always rely on your schedule. If you may permit me another escort, one with less outside affairs to deal with, then I may be able to proceed with my training in a faster fashion. I also offer complete compliance in exchange for Ravus’s guaranteed safety and a position of power.” Luna hoped that she hadn’t stumbled over her words. She had rehearsed them in her vanity mirror all morning.

Ardyn slid his feet from the desk and stood. “Reasonable demands, I suppose. Fine. I will have someone on call to accompany you.”

“I intend to disembark to Amalthea’s temple today. If you may begin preparations...”

The Chancellor waved his hand. “Yes, yes, more work for me. I’ll see to it. Be ready in two hours.” Lunafreya bowed briefly and hurried out of the library.

With a quick lunch and her necessities packed she raced back down the stairs. There stood a silver haired young woman leaning against the banister with her arms folded and her head tilted. She looked at Lunafreya with disinterest and straightened her posture. “Lady Lunafreya?”

“Yes-”

“Name’s Aranea Highwind, training to lead the airborne division, blah blah blah, real pleasure, let’s get a move on,” the woman said all in one go and walked away from the stairs. Lunafreya dragged her suitcase behind her and rushed to follow her. Despite the woman’s haughty air, she didn’t feel anything malicious from her. It was actually nice to be around a woman someone close in age to her.

“May I ask how old you are?” Luna asked when she finally caught up to her.

“Geez, you have to speak so formal?” Aranea sighed and kicked the front door open before exiting. “I’m nineteen. Aren’t you too old to have a babysitter?”

“I think so as well…” Luna admitted sadly. “I apologize. If you desire to leave then I can speak to Ardyn on your behalf.” “I can’t. It’s my first mission and I can’t negotiate with my superiors.” Aranea crossed her arms and lead them to a small ship. The personal-sized metal construct reminded Lunafreya of a spider. “And it’s a simple escort mission. It should be simple enough right?”

“I should hope so. Will the MTs not be joining us?”

“On my ship? Hell no. I deal with enough stiff men as is.” Aranea opened the hatch for them to climb into and seated herself in the pilot’s chair. Leaning against one of the walls was a very tall, black and red metal lance. Lunafreya moved carefully around it to sit in the passenger's chair. Aranea waited for her to buckle herself in before lifting the contraption into the air. A small screen displayed their location in relation to the ground and their coordinates. Though young, Aranea seemed to be handling the ship like a professional.

Lunafreya looked out the window and watched Fenestala Manor shrink from her view. “It must be nice to have the entire sky to yourself.”

To her surprise, Aranea actually chuckled. “It has its perks. No traffic jams, less collisions. Have you ever flown?”

“In the Niflheim vessels, yes.”

“No, I mean have you ever had your actual hands pilot the ship?”

“I fear not.”

Aranea snorted. “You don’t have to be so formal. Or is that how all you Tenebraens talk?” She noticed Lunafreya’s frown and sighed. “Nevermind. So...what’s it like being Oracle? It must be a tough ass job.”

“It...is a tough ass job.” Luna smiled, reusing the woman’s words.

“Woah! What a potty mouth. We’ve got a badass over here,” Aranea laughed heartily and dipped the ship. “Look out the window. You’re gonna leave.”

Lunafreya pressed her hands and nose to the window and peered at where the ship nearly skidded above a lake. Swans took off in flight and gave chase to the vessel. The sun reflected perfectly atop the still crystal water and dyed the ripples gold. “It is beautiful…”

Oracle Amalthea Verus Fleuret’s temple was a stone establishment set direct in the middle of a very large lake. Lily pads and other aqua-based flora floated around the rocky barrier and several swan nests occupied some circles of stones. Aranea touched down on the sandy embankment and turned off the ship. She and Lunafreya disembarked and warily shooed away the swans that wandered towards them. The temple had gone lopsided but the stairs were still accessible. Lunafreya pulled her luggage from the back of the ship and Aranea helped her haul it up.

“What the hell is in this thing?” she huffed impatiently as they dragged the suitcase up the steps.

“Candles, books, instruments.”

_“Instruments?”_

“Most of the Oracles respond to music and song. I must play the old hymns to garner their attention.”

“Right,” the woman sighed as they finally reached the top of the stairs. The temple was full of overgrown moss and abandoned swan eggshells. A school of fluffy cygnets waddled between their feet before their mother called to them and ruffled her feathers in agitation. At the center of the crooked-ceiling temple was the statue of Amalthea herself, depicted in a swishing fabric that spun with her in mid-dance. Her face was frozen in laughter and her eyes creased. She held a chalice in one hand and the trident in the other.

Aranea whistled. “She looks like a real party.”

“She was quite fond of parties,” Lunafreya admitted as she unloaded the suitcase. She set the candles about the foot of the statue and lit them with a match. “Amalthea onced danced without stopping for three days on end. She received visions so profound from the Gods that she could not stop until she collapsed from exhaustion.” Luna opened a book with a swan feather imprinted on the cover; Amalthea’s diary. Writing seemed to be a strong Fleuret family trait, and Amalthea had written her three-day long vision in phenomenal detail. Her vision predicted events around the world to occur in the next thirty years, and each event that had come true had been crossed through by the Oracles that came after her.

Aranea seated herself on the now empty suitcase and handed Lunafreya the harp. “That’s wild. Mind if I watch?”

“I do not mind.” Lunafreya took the harp and stood. She was a little self conscious to perform her duty in front of Aranea, but if she let that interfere then the prayer would take longer than necessary. Inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, Luna slipped out of her shoes and poised the handheld harp to her chest. She strung a single cord and harmonized her voice with it, hearing it echo around the cavernous temple. Luna stepped slowly around the empty space, strumming and singing in harmony. The combined heat of the candles and her movements built a thin layer of sweat on her skin.

When she was done with the ceremonial dance, she landed in a kneel and pressed her hands together in prayer. Oracle Amalthea’s vision came to her faster than the others. She saw the illusion of the woman clap her hands and then bow with a wide smile. Luanfreya sighed. “Oracle Amalthea, I thank you for your strength.” She stood slowly and turned to where Aranea had been sitting. The woman was staring up at the face of the statue with odd interest. She at last met Lunafreya’s eyes.

“That was cool...wanna get some food?”

Because the temple visits could last several hours, there was no reason for them to rush back to the manor. Aranea flew them to a lodging with a decently priced restaurant and ordered for both of them. Lunafreya had been hungry from having to fast the day before in preparation of visiting the temple today, and Aranea politely excused her somewhat ravenous eating. Once all of the food was eaten, the pair returned to Fenestala Manor exactly at sunset.

Lunafreya pulled her luggage off of the ship. “I am grateful for you escorting me today, Miss Aranea. I do hope that you may be able to do so again?”

Aranea leaned against the sip and crossed her arms. “I’d be happy to. Next time the dinner bill is on you though,” she smirked and saluted. “Be seeing you, Lunafreya. Try not to dance until your feet fall off.”

Lunafreya laughed and waved goodbye as Aranea lifted and took off into the sky. Ravus was waiting for her when she entered the manor. “How did it go?” He grabbed the suitcase for her and pulled it up the stairs.

“It was without error,” she smiled. “And I believe that I made a friend.”

“You are sentimental, sister,” replied Ravus with a shake of his head. There was a rapier sword strapped to his hilt that she had not seen before. The metal was dark and twisted. When he caught her staring, his hand went to the pommel. “It was a gift from General Glauca. He will send an envoy to continue my training in sword fighting.”

“I see…” Lunafreya chose not to question it further.

The events of the day had left Lunafreya in a somewhat euphoric mood. She ate her meal and several strawberries for dessert. When she got to her bedroom she held Pryna and Umbra’s paws and danced them the room. All of the temples of Tenebrae had been explored; it was time to see the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone catch a certain reference? Comment it if you did!


	4. Revelry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! I have a bad habit of perfectionism when it comes to writing and I finally set realistic standards for myself. This chapter is short but the next will follow soon. Enjoy!

The crowd was an entire ocean of people. Tenebrae’s audience had increased so much overnight that many lodgings had been filled to the max and some people had camped outside of them. People from all parts of Eos had come to witness Lunafreya’s ceremony. At the age of only sixteen, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret would be the youngest Oracle in history. Lunafreya held tight to the Trident of the Oracle as she floated through the crowd.

A path had been made for her with bars and rope keeping the crowd at bay, but even then some of them reach out to brush her arms as she passed. She didn’t mind because she knew most of them, having ventured across Tenebrae to heal those blighted by the starscourge. The personal interactions had sparked hope in the eyes of the people, and they were eager to witness Lunafreya embrace her role of saving them all. When a little girl reached out a small hand and attempted to touch her dress despite her short arm, Lunafreya paused and stood closer for her to reach. She knelt down and high fived the little girl, who giggled and retreated into her mother’s skirts. Lunafreya smiled and stood to continue her parade.

No one knew of the blight that was spreading within her.

It started off so small that she had not seen it at first. She had travelled to the fields where a farm’s entire left eye had gone black and a horn grew twisted from his temple. When she held his hand and recited the prayer, there had been an easily dismissable pinch to her stomach. It could have been a mosquito or a sharp blade of grass that managed to sneak in. Maybe even a hint to her time of the month. But with each successful healing, the pinch became a tingle, then an itch, and then an ache. When she scratched, dark skin chafed beneath her fingernails and the flesh throbbed black and purple. If she pressed her palm hard enough to the blight, it would ooze with black blood.

Lunafreya had made sure to bandage her torso before dressing in the ceremonial garb. She could not let them see her coming undone. She wondered if her mother hid the same burden. If she did, it was an excellently kept secret from everyone that she loved.

Striding to the recently completed altar of Oracle Sylva Via Fleuret, Luna smiled at the stoney likeness of her mother and tipped her head down in respects. She turned to face the crowd and planted the hilt of the trident beside her ankle. Her voice carried on the wind like loose feathers, amplified by the architecture of the altar’s dome shaped. Ravus, Maria, and Ardyn stood in the first row, watching expectantly.

“My people of Tenebrae…” she said with a pause, waiting for their cheers to die down. “For many generations, the House of Fleuret has humbly served you as Oracle. It has been our divine mission to heal the people and rid the world of the scourge. I, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, now assume the mantle and embrace my role. It is an honor to serve you all.” The crowd responded in an uproar. Ravus beamed proudly at his sister. Maria clasped her hands over her mouth and nodded excitedly.

Of all the joyous faces, Ardyn’s face alone was empty of it. There was something almost sinister looking in his eyes. A curious hatred or resentment. He seemed to hold this expression often these days, only to smile it away when he caught her looking. Ardyn tipped his hat and turned away.

A grand party on the Fenestala Manor grounds was held in Lunafreya’s honor. A travelling troupe set up a stage and told the story of the Six with marionettes. A circus brought in a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round with mermaids and unicorns. People tried their luck at bobbing for apples or scooping for tiny fish in bowls or rolling bowling balls into pins. The smell of funnel cake and cotton candy enticed anyone that smelled it on the air.

Lunafreya and Ravus wandered to a food stall and purchased roasted corn coated in parmesan cheese. The vendor speared the corn onto sticks for them and insisted that they not pay. Ever the gentleman, Ravus paid the vendor more than enough gil while Lunafreya chewed on the godsent corn.

“I haff nod had cone yike thith in athis!” she said while chewing around the cob.

Ravus creased his eyebrows. “What did you say?”

Luna swallowed and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “I said, I have not had corn like this in ages.” Having had to fast the previous two days with a strict diet of nothing to eat, Lunafreya was eager to consume something. She turned in a full circle to admire all the lights of the festivities around her. No Tenebraen that wasn’t staff was allowed near the manor since Nifelheim’s full takeover. It was nice to see so many faces enjoying themselves.

She wished that she could share the celebration with Noctis and his father. The Lucian prince was twelve now. She imagined that he would have loved the carnival rides as much as the kids that ran past her in little groups laughing. Luna would have liked to win him a moogle and send it to him, but of course Nifelheim would not allow for such a thing. She found a set of moogle stickers and tucked them into her pocket for later.

At various times Luna would catch someone's eye lingering on her. A male might dip his eyes over her figure and back to her face, or a girl might brush gently past her shoulder with a smirk and leave the scent of perfume in her wake. Luna stood a little straighter and would make her movements more lithe and leisurely. She enjoyed this new type of attention. Being sixteen meant that she was now eligible for courting, and though Nifelheim would surely use her as a tool for alliances, she could at least participate in the thrill of mild flirations.

Technically Ravus could have already been wed, but fencing and sword fighting was his true love.

The celebration lasted well into the night and ended some time shy of sunrise. Revelers had camped around the manor, the troupe packed up and left, and the dormant attractions slumbered like metal giants. Lunafreya had fallen asleep in an enormous hammock full of children, all nestled together like birds in a nest. She awoke at first light and crawled out of the sea of colorful blankets and small encircling arms.

Lunafreya grabbed her abandoned heels and crept past the tents, careful not to disturb those sleeping inside. Her mouth was stained blue from cotton candy dye and her hair was wild from being tossed about on the rollercoaster. She may have looked a mess to any onlookers, but the smile on her face was bright enough to rival the rising sun. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages.

Luna slipped in through the servant’s door in the back of the manor, free of any MTs. Nifelheim had granted her wish of lessening the guards on the grounds for the momentous occasion, as Lunafreya had not wanted the guests to feel intimidated or for any accidents to occur. She padded barefoot up the stairs and trailed her hand along the staircase. Entering her room, she dropped the high heels and dove onto her bed. Sleep came instantly.

Maria was knocking at her bedroom door some hours later. She pressed the door open with her hip and held a silver tray, carrying a bowl of oatmeal with fruit slices and a glass of iced orange juice. Maria set the tray on the bedside table and roused Lunafreya gently. “It’s well past noon, dear. I’d say you were possessed by Oracle Amalthea herself!”

Luna turned her face out of her pillow and smiled with a sleepy squint. “It felt like a dream…”

“Well it was very much real and you need to wash up. You look like you ate sylleblossoms and combed your hair with a stick,” the old woman chuckled. “I’ll run your bath water.”

“Thank you, Maria…” Luna yawned and sat up groggily. She peeled herself from the bed and headed into the bathroom. Maria sat on the tub’s edge and stroked oils into the steaming water. Luna caught her reflection in the mirror over the basin and giggled at her ragged persona. She removed her stained garments, grateful that she had changed out of her ceremonial dress before joining the fray.

Maria flicked the water from her hand and grabbed a brush. “Ravus told me that you rode the roller coaster twelve times.” When the woman turned to her, her eyes became round as eggs and her mouth gaped. Lunafreya realized too late that she was staring at the blight on her belly. It’s size had increased to be larger than her hand and branched out like claws.

Luna hunched and crossed her arms over her stomach. “Maria…”

“No-” Maria cut her off. She closed her eyes, took a deep gulp and sighed. “No. It’s...it’s alright. I knew this would happen. Your mother warned- I mean...told me about it. I expected it sooner or later...” She opened her eyes. They were full of sympathy and kindness. “Does it hurt you?”

“Only on some days...other times it is as if it was hardly there…” Luna admitted and sighed. So, Maria had known but said nothing. How long had her mother suffered in silence? Luna didn’t want to think about it. “Do not pay it mind. Please.”

Maria nodded and turned away politely. Luna stepped into the tub and sank into the scented hot water. She pulled her knees to her chest and leaned her head back, allowing Maria to comb out the tangles. She would not forget how Maria had looked at her with such fear. “Ravus must not know…”

Maria hesitated. “My dear...Ravus already knows.”

How much had they shielded her? Maria and Ravus and their mother? Of course Ravus, being the oldest, would be more in the know of things. Maria had served the family when even Queen Sylva was young. Luna did not resent them, but she did feel disappointed that they could not entrust her with such a secret. She had no way of knowing what else they could be hiding from her, these very people who were all that she had left.

“Before I forget,” Maria added, quick to change the subject, “Miss Aranea Highwind smuggled in a gift for you. I hid it underneath your bed.”

Lunafreya perked at the news. She had sent a personal invitation to Aranea but was disheartened with the reply that she could not make it in time. In the two years since she had known her, Aranea earned her way up the ranks and was promoted to a lieutenant with her own airship. She mailed pictures of her impressive new “Dragon Mail” armor and promised to take her on a personal flight in exchange for missing the celebration. Lunafreya was grateful for Aranea keeping in contact with her. She smiled. “I will pen her my letter of thanks. You may be dismissed, Maria. I can take it from here.”

Maria bowed before taking her leave. Luna scrubbed her face so fierce that her skin glowed with a new layer of freshness After bathing and then draining the tub, Luna wrapped herself in a white robe and crouched at the foot of her bed. Her hand reached underneath and touched something bulky and weighty. Using both hands, she forced out a heavy box and opened the lid. Inside was a record player and some vinyls in decorative covers. Aranea had also provided several teen media magazines, a novel with a scandalous title, and a black band tee with a flaming phoenix logo. The card inside read  _ Off with your head, dance till you're dead. Amalthea style. Sincerely, Aranea. _

Luna set the record player atop her nightstand. She picked the vinyl with triangles on the cover and loaded it on, moving the cartridge over the disc. She touched the power button and watched the vinyl whirl.

The music that followed sounded like a live band performing in her room. It was a harsh contrast from Tenebrae's preference of opera and orchestra. There were guitars, drums, xylophones, a piano. The female vocalist was strong with a choir's touch and a ferocity in how she held lengthy notes. Luna closed her eyes and embraced the song in her heart. She swung her arms around so hard that the rest of her body stumbled to keep up, but she didn't stop. She felt like she was creating the universe, or like the universe was creating her.

Lunafreya continued to let the music play as she wrapped a roll of bandages over her stomach and dressed. Today's agenda included a trip to the floating isles of the border, where an entire family had been blighted right down to the baby. She pressed her hand over her own blight and took a deep breath. For better or worse, she had a duty to fulfill.

Umbra came sniffing at her ankles and wagged his tail. He sat and waited for her to remove the journal from his pouch. Luna flipped to the pouch and quickly went to her abandoned clothes, searching for the moogle stickers she had saved. She stuck them onto the paper and drew what she hoped looked like a roller coaster and a ferris wheel. Beneath it she wrote  _ You must attend the next time. It was amazing! I hope you are enjoying your public school. Please tell me all about it. -Lunafreya _

A black ink stain began to spread from the page’s corner. Luna moved her hand away and watched it consume the entire paper. It seeped into the pages underneath it and somehow even the ones above despite the book being open. The entire journal burst into flames and then became a pile of ashes just as quick. All that was left fell to the floor: the still burning sylleblossom that she had pressed into the book years prior.

It was an omen.

Luna blinked away the vision and realized that the undamaged journal was still open in her hands. Umbra watched her expectantly. He grabbed the journal with his mouth and walked away with it, leaving her to catch her breath and ease the thoughts in her head.

Lunafreya moved to the bed and sat with the food tray in her lap. She ate the oatmeal and drank the juice, tossing down a strawberry for Umbra to enjoy. She waited for the song to finish before turning off the record player. The serenity of the movement had left her. She decided to tend to the sylleblossom fields.

Descending the staircase, Luna found Ravus carrying a white suitcase in each hand. He was headed to the door with servants following him and carrying more luggage. Lunafreya caught up to him quickly.

“Ravus! Wait! Where are you going?”

Ravus barely acknowledged her as he held the door open for the servants to pass through. “To Gralea.”

“The Niflheim capitol? But why?”

“I have business to attend to there, sister. Ardyn has spoken highly of me. If I perform well, I will soon command a troupe of my own.”

Lunafreya counted seven suitcases in all. “For how long…?”

“I do not know how long the journey will fare. I must depart for the Magna Fortia.”

There was something distant in him and not once did he look at her. Lunafreya twisted her fingers and stepped away from him. It was easy to tell that he did not want her there. She hoped that Maria had not told him about the blight and that this was his way of avoiding her. “Safe journey, then…”

Though Ravus would never admit it aloud, Lunafreya knew that he was trying to busy himself to feel useful. Her role as the Oracle would overshadow anything that he did, and while he did not direct his irritation at lack of purpose at her, it was evident in his demeanor. He stopped asking about how her trips to heal people went, nor did he eat breakfast with her. Days would go by where she would only catch a glimpse of him walking away, her only sight of him for the entire week. Their interaction at the carnival was the most that they had spoken to one another in months.

It wasn’t completely unfair that he was allowed to leave, but it still felt that way.

A hovering carriage was waiting for Ravus in the manor’s courtyard. The servants finished loading his belongings and Ravus boarded the passenger’s side. Luna touched her crescent necklace and the wind slightly tangled her loose hair in the chains. She stood at the couryard’s edge and waved slowly. From the window, he curtly waved back to her.

That was the last she would see of him for four months. Every morning when she tended to the sylleblossom fields, her eyes always scanned the horizon for any approaching carriages or airships. Ravus has sent sparse letters but had to keep his words vague per the army’s instruction. He mentioned more sword fighting and meeting some soldiers, studying history and techniques and learning about new tech that he wasn’t allowed to speak on. Luna tried to be happy but she wasn’t even not allowed to send letters back.

In her distracting thoughts, Lunafreya had accidentally overwater the field. She jerked her hands back upon the realization and the rain clouds dissipated. The poor flowers were soaked, and when she trekked through them their blue color rubbed off on her white boots and skirt. She touched at the blue residue and rubbed it between her fingers. It stained her fingertips the same color.

Curious, Lunafreya twisted a loose strand of her hair with the same stained fingers. The blond hair took on a somewhat greenish-blue tint, nearly bright teal in the sunlight.

Luna had an idea. She grabbed a fistful of wet sylleblossoms beyond saving and tore them from the roots. Soggy soil squished beneath her boots as she made her way back to the terrace. Retreating to her room, Luna tore up a newspaper sheet and laid the sylleblossoms on top of them. She reached under her bed and pulled out her magazine collection, flipping to the dog-eared articles and promos.

_ Live Band Concert Schedule in Altissia. Get your tickets now! _

The band that she was most familiar with (thanks to Aranea's insistence and the records that she continuously sent) was performing in three days. She wasn't quite sure how she'd get to Altissia, but she at least had the three days to prepare. She wanted to prove to herself that she was more capable than anyone would let her believe. Prove that Ravus wasn't the only one who could come and go. And she had never been to a band concert before.

It was time to make her mark.

Three days.

Game on.


	5. Leave All Your Love and Your Longing Behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!

Standing inside of a train’s cramped bathroom car was not the ideal place to be applying makeup. Lunafreya gripped the small sink with intense concentration as she traced a line of kohl along her eyelid. Her darkened fingertip wasn’t the finest point for precision, and after many failed attempts at a sharp line, she smeared the powder into the shape of a thick wing over each. The train jostled roughly and her hand nearly knocked into her jar of homemade hair dye. 

Luna surveyed her reflection and turned her head from side to side. Her usual blond hair had been dyed greenish blue with sylleblossom paste and rubbing alcohol. creating a strange but bearable smell. Cloudy black eyes blinked at her, and ruby red lips bunched anxiously. She had informed Ardyn and Maria that she was attending a private healing for a family that preferred not to be exposed to the public. Ardyn didn’t hide his suspicion but dismissed her with a carefree wave. Maria put up more of a fight and continuously questioned her. It didn’t feel right to lie to Maria, but Luna was still slightly sour about all that had been kept from her as well. Everyone had secrets and now she would have one too. 

Now her stomach rocked nauseosly and it wasn’t just from the train. Even though Aranea had offered to come out and join her for the concert, Lunafreya would still be alone for several hours. It wasn’t entirely unlikely that someone would recognize her considering that she was obviously famous even outside of Tenebrae. Should someone try to snap a picture or call out her name, others were soon to notice and make a scene. Ardyn would find out and come to escort her back personally, or worse, he’d send General Glauca. If she was caught then she would be never being able to leave the manor again, so this night had to count. She had boarded the train as the appraised Oracle Lunafreya Nox Fleuret of Tenebrae, and she would disembark as... 

Stella. An average, sixteen year old girl with teal hair and smoky eyes, attending a concert. 

Luna clutched her black purse full of an excessive amount of gil and the outfit she had changed out of against her and disembarked the train. People squeezed around her and knocked against her with mumbled apologies. It was odd having them shuffle past her without a second thought. Crowds had always bowed to her, their eyes shut as they prayed for their savior. Now she didn’t gain more than half a glance or a pardon to pass by. Luna smiled; her disguise was working perfectly. 

Altissia: the City Upon the Water. Lunafreya had visited once prior to see the altar of the Tidemother. She couldn’t do any sightseeing at the time because of the MTs blocking most of her view and the very long meeting with Altissia’s first secretary, Camelia Claustra. The woman had been all business, sparing no detail about how Altissia was to remain neutral in political affairs and that the Oracle was not to be biased against those outside of Nifelheim’s clutches. Though Ardyn had done all of the talking and Lunafreya was made to sit in a chair like a silent doll, Camelia had held Luna’s gaze for most of it despite Ardyn sitting parallel to her. (Luna knew that it agitated him because he kept clearing his throat rather loudly.) It didn’t matter that Ardyn was there; Camela knew that Luna was the one with the power. They had left Altissia just as the Moogle Chocobo Carnival was beginning, much to Luna’s dismay. 

The concert started at eight, and luckily Aranea had provided her with a city map to pass the time until her arrival. She had even been generous to make side notes of where cheap but tasty meals were and her personal favorite spots in the city. One such spot was a hotel balcony, and Aranea had left a lipstick kiss and scrawled Best makeout spot EVER in red ink. Lunafreya blushed at the idea and quickly creased that part of the map in case anyone saw. The nearest icon was a gondola ride to the Leville Hotel. 

Aranea’s note: Chill in the lobby and get some free coffee. 

Lunafreya found a boat stop and stood among the people there. Two girls and a male, all with hair colored in various shades of red so she assumed them to be siblings. They were around her age and the girls wore matching T-shirts depicting the band’s logo. Luna looked down at her own clothes: a black bustier dress with a ruffled bottom and a white bolero jacket with black boots. Standing next to them she felt overdressed, like she was going to an orchestra instead of an indie rock band. The various magazines had failed her in blending in with the younger Altissian crowd. She shrunk behind the small group as their conversation carried over. 

“I’m so excited!” one girl exclaimed as she shook the arm of the girl beside her. “I heard that the last time Florence sang, she summoned a storm!” 

“That sounds a little far fetched.” 

“I don’t think so! I’ve been reading theories that she’s actually the Hydraen in disguise. That’s why her voice summoned the storm!” she continued explaining. Judging from the faces of her other company, her theory wasn’t received well. 

“You’ve gotta stop reading those conspiracy theories, Luce.” 

Lunafreya laughed and regretted it instantly. The siblings turned to her, acknowledging that someone else had joined their ranks. Her heart thudded as they examined her, squinting as they tried to place her familiar face but not quite able to name her. Especially the accompanying male with the blue headband and thick red hair peeking out. By the luck of the Six, a gondola finally paddled into view and the ferryman tipped his hat to them. The teens paid their fare and climbed into the boat, leaving a hesitant Lunafreya standing still on the spot. 

The ferryman rose his eyebrows. “Aren’t you getting in?” 

“If…” Luna stammered and then tried again with an Altissian accent, “if they do not mind?” 

The two girls shrugged on their shared bench. The male scooted over and gestured at the newly empty spot. “There’s enough space,” he smiled. “We don’t mind.” 

Luna nodded her thanks and slid into the seat beside him, careful not to bump her knee against his as she sat. All of her flaws felt suddenly heightened now that they were able to scrutinize her fully. One of the girls, Luce, even unashamedly leaned forward and held her gaze as the ferryman paddled the gondola forward. Her hair was braided into various intricate loops that gave her head the silhouette of a four-leaf clover. 

“I love your mermaid hair!” 

Luna tried not to think about how her hair currently smelled and smiled. “Thank you…” 

“You’re going to the concert too?” asked the other girl. Her hair was pulled into two buns with the rest of it curled and hanging loose 

“Oh, yes. May I ask where you purchased your shirts?” 

There was a faint wince between Luce’s eyebrows. Luna already knew that it was from her manner of speaking. Accent or not, she still spoke like a noble. She quickly corrected herself. 

“They’re nice. I-I wish I had gotten one instead of this.” Luna gestured at her own attire. “I feel...totally overdressed.” 

Luce waved her hand dismissively. “You look gorgeous. Doesn’t she, Faust?” At this she smirked and kicked the knee of the male across from her. 

The male named Faust glared and rubbed at the offended spot as his sister laughed. “Do that again and I’m taking your butt back home.” 

“Noooooo!” Luce whined. “Okay, okay I'm sorry. Anyway!” She turned back to Luna. “My name’s Luce. This is my sister Prudence and our older brother Faust.” 

“My name is Stella,” Luna announced with practiced patience. Glancing back and forth between their features, it was now more obvious that Luce and Prudence were in fact identical twins and a bit younger. Faust looked to be about her age if not a year older. She had to admit that she liked their energy. “So...can you tell me about this Hydraen theory?” 

Luce grabbed her hands and grinned. “Absolutely.” 

“Oh, Six…” Prudence groaned. 

The gondola ride had been a very detailed explanation of what Lucetta had found in support of her theory. Luna listened with undeterred attention, curious to know what exactly the public knew about the Six. Her studies of the pantheon would of course be more in depth, and she wished that she could give Luce more insight but couldn’t in fear of exposing herself. Still she listened to the girl’s happy ramblings while Prudence leaned over to stroke her hand in the passing waters. A few times Luna thought that Faust was examining her legs, but she chose to instead focus on Luce’s words. 

Luna was so invested that she accidentally missed her stop. The gondola reached its stop and the siblings disembarked together. Luna followed suit and opened her map and scanned her surroundings for any matching landmarks. She wasn’t quite sure how far she had strayed from the hotel, and the crisscrossing canals were starting to look like a watery maze. Prudence came up at her shoulder and glanced at the map. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“The Leville Hotel?” 

Prudence sucked in a breath. “Yikes. That’s another boat ride away from here.” She pointed at a spot on the map with a blue painted fingernail. “This is where we are, near Totomostro. Why not stick with us? We’re all going to the concert and we’ve got time to kill.” 

Luna folded up the map before Prue could see the lipstick kiss mark. She didn’t necessarily have to follow a specific course, and at least she was no longer touring alone. Aranea would still be a while due to her flight schedule. “Well…,” Luna smiled. “Alright. Maybe you can show me around?” Prudence linked her arm through hers in response and lead the way. 

“To your right,” she enunciated in a tour guide voice, “is the famous Totomostro. The sounds of monsters slaughtering each other is especially poignant today.” 

Luna creased her eyebrows. “What?” 

Touring the city on foot was much more fun than the gondola. There were so many stairs and odd twists and turns, every corner revealing something new. There were carts that sold fireworks, candies, moogle dolls and even a dancing chocobo mascot. Luna posed with the twins and the chocobo while Faust took the picture on his phone. The twins then snatched his phone and shoved him to pose beside Luna, who tucked her arms in awkwardly. 

“Get in closer!” Prudence commanded as she stepped back for a better view. 

“Closeeeeeer,” Luce giggled. 

The chocobo mascot encircled Luna and Faust into a hug, making their shoulders touch and sending a blush to their faces. Prudence snapped the picture and then turned towards Lucetta to show it to her. The chocobo gave a friendly wave before moving onto the next set of picture takers. 

“I’m sorry about them,” Faust sighed. “We don’t get out much. It’s their birthday and I wanted to treat them.” 

“You don’t have to apologize. I know the feeling of being in one place for too long.” 

“Do you?” He turned to her. Only now was she seeing how green his eyes were- like the forests of Tenebrae. “Where are you from? I can’t really place the accent.” 

Oh, Six. “The outskirts of Tenebrae,” she answered quickly. “Where are you from?” 

“Galdin Quay. Our parents were from Galahd but...well, you know how that went.” 

She did know. Galahd was one of Nifelheim’s first conquered territories almost thirty years ago. She had to restrain herself from instinctively apologizing. “What do your parents do now?” 

“They fish. We all do.” Faust flicked his silver ear loop in his ear as if it meant something. “It’s not a bad way of living to be honest. But we’re away at sea so much that being on land feels weird,” he chuckled. “So it’s kinda nice to stand on solid ground for once.” 

Luna sat on a nearby water fountain and crossed her ankles. She hoped that she looked pretty while doing it. “Can you swim?” 

“Like a shark!” 

She laughed. “I cannot.” 

Faust crossed his arms and shifted on his feet, smiling. “I could teach you.” 

Luna splashed at the fountain water. “We could practice in this fountain.” She was happy when that earned a laugh from him. “You mentioned Galdin Quay? Have you been to the resort there?” 

“Oh yeah, tons of times.” Faust sat beside her on the water fountain’s edge. His shoulder bumped hers lightly. “My family usually provides them with the fish. The restaurant is really nice there and I like the staff. Buuuut you have to be a little careful with the free massages though.” Faust mimicked twisting his head and imitated a very loud cracking sound. “Your body will be more sore than when you went in the first place.” 

Luna laughed at his impression. “Does fishing make you sore?” 

“Definitely.” He raised his arm and flexed his firm bicep. “Hauling in a full net of fish is a real workout, you know?” 

Luna reached forward to lightly slide her fingers across the muscle. “I see that it pays off.” 

“I’m starving!” Luce exclaimed as she jogged towards them, just in time for Luna to retreat her hand. “Let’s go to Maagho’s!” 

The restaurant called Maagho’s was another gondola ride away but the drifting succulent scent enticed Luna that it was worth the trip. Not only was the restaurant owner Weskham generous enough to give them a very large group discount, but the house lasagna was the most savory thing that Luna had ever tasted. Having fasted for weeks at a time meant that her meals had to be light and brief, but this time she savored every bite of the lasagna in case she would never get to eat it again. She wished that she could take a plate back with her so that the house chefs could learn to make it. 

The last several hours were spent chugging sodas, taking more pictures with mascots and racing up and down the stairs until they were out of breath. A street artist offered to draw caricatures of them and the trio let Luna keep the artwork. They ate ice cream as Luce ranted on about another conspiracy theory involving blighted gods and Luna pressed her hand to her stomach protectively. Within an hour before the concert, the crowds grew thicker and the sky grew darker. Luna convinced them to wait in the hotel lobby where she planned to meet up with Aranea at this time. 

“I’ll just be a moment,” she explained as she walked to the receptionist desk and asked to borrow the phone. She dialed the number that Aranea had written on the map. Aranea answered on the third ring. 

“Hey, highness. You’re at the rendezvous?” 

“I am. And I’m having a lot of fun,” Luna grinned. “I made friends and we have been touring the city. 

“Awww, look at you making friends,” Aranea cooed. 

“I am,” Luna laughed shyly. “Are you near? The concert beings within the next hour.” 

“I’m still negotiating where to land since this city isn’t exactly aircraft-friendly. I might be a minute. Stay where you are and I’ll turn up soon.” 

“I will be waiting then. And please, call me Stella when you get here,” Luna whispered. 

“Clever girl. See you soon.” Aranea hung up and Luna went back to join the others. From outside they could see the crowd starting to swell all around the building. Even though the concert wasn’t for another hour, people were already getting as near as they could to the set up stage. 

“We should probably get going,” Prudence suggested. “We’re not gonna be able to see the stage with all these tall people gathering up front.” 

“I wish they had gotten elevated benches or something,” Luce sighed as she stood. “Some of us aren’t seven feet tall and I do not want a mouth full of someone’s hair!” 

They walked towards the hotel doors but Luna hesitated behind them. The hotel had been her established meeting point with Aranea, and not having a cell phone of her own would make it impossible to reach her. She could still wait for her and catch up with the trio later, but there would be no way to find her friends in such a large crowd. 

It wouldn’t be right to make Faust and the twins wait longer. She could have Gentiana pass the message to Aranea, but that would be a direct abuse of power. What to do… 

Luna twisted her fingers and followed them to the door. “I...I must stay. Please, continue without me.” 

“Why?” asked Luce. “Aren't you hear for the concert too?” 

“Yes but…I’m meeting another friend here. She is arriving late.” 

“What if you tell her to call you when she gets here?” offered Faust. “It should be easy to find the hotel even through the crowd.” 

“I do not have a phone…” She expected them to question her, but instead Faust reached into his pocket and held up his own. 

“We can use mine.” Faust extended the phone to her. It was in a blue case with a dangling malboro charm, particularly the one from the Li’l Malbuddy cartoon show. Luna took the phone and cradled it to herself. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. She could inform Aranea of the slight change in plans and still be close to the hotel to reconvene. Much to Luna’s embarrassment, Faust had to show her how to send a text message. She was a slow typer and the phone kept autocorrecting her, but eventually she managed to send Aranea a short and to the point message. 

I will be witnessing the concert. Please alert me when you arrive. Sincerely, Stella 

She had to stop herself from typing her real name and hoped that Faust hadn’t seen her quickly backspacing. They twins linked arms and Luna and Faust took the other sides. It wasn’t easy maneuvering with a four person chain but they managed to squeeze into the fray. Unfortunately the entire front rows of people were above six feet. They could only see between the gaps of shoulders and Luce fitfully spit out the hair of someone who had backed into her. Luna thought she felt someone stroke her calf and flinched uncomfortably. From the opposite side of their chain, Faust leaned forward and shouted, “this isn’t gonna work!” They agreed unanimously and headed back to the hotel. 

Luce threw herself onto the cabriole sofa and dramatically draped her arm over her eyes. “Our first concert and we can’t even see it!” 

“I know I should have worn heels,” Prudence huffed and joined her sister, folding her arms so tight that they crushed her chest. Faust looked to Luna and shrugged apologetically. She nodded in understanding. They were all equally disappointed. 

Luna opened the map on the coffee table and knelt down on the carpet. She hoped to find a spot for them to perch with a good view, but this part of the city was too clustered by buildings. The crowd was a mass now, and there was no way that the four of them could push their way through to the front without getting suffocated. Her eyes caught on Aranea’s kiss mark, Best makeout spot EVER, right on the balcony. 

A balcony. 

Perfect. 

Luna folded the map and shot upward. “I know what to do. Please wait here! We will see the concert yet!” She rushed to the concierge with three sets of confused eyes following her. The concierge inclined his head to her as she set her purse on the countertop and rummaged through it. “May I inquire about the price of a room with a view?” The concierge furrowed his eyebrows, and rightfully so. She had nearly forgotten about her Stella persona. Anyone would be suspicious of a teenage girl with a purse full of gil renting a room without her parents. Prudence, Luce and Faust had been poltie enough not to ask, but she was making herself more and more obvious by the minute. Still, she jiggled her purse so that the gil inside clanged together and hopefully convinced the concierge to reconsider. At last, he budged. 

“Ten thousand for a room with a view.” 

Luna counted and collected the coins until Faust came up at her shoulder and set his hand on her wrist. “You really don’t have to do this, Stella. We can still hear the music from in here. This is too much…” 

“I have enough,” she reassured. “Please. If I may, this is my gift to you. For your kindness and hospitality and patience…” 

The frown on his face told her that he wasn’t completely convinced. “Alright.” 

Luna handed the money over to the concierge, put the room in her name, and waved over the twins. The concierge handed her the hotel key for room 324 and a menu, informing her that room service was twenty-four hours and that tips were encouraged. Luna linked her arm through Faust’s and dragged him to the elevator with the twins giggling behind them. She texted Aranea of the change of plans. 

The balcony provided a perfect view of the concert down below. Looking over the edge was like looking into a sea of humans, all jostling for a better view or elbowing past one another. It was fortunate that Lunafreya and company were able to be seated comfortably and still have room to breathe. They pulled out the hotel room chairs and sofa cushions and set up just in time for the opening act. Not particularly interested in the opener, Prudence painted another coat over her fingernails while Luce danced about wildly. 

“You’re gonna exhaust yourself before the concert actually starts!” Faust warned from where he sat on a sofa cushion. Luce made a cactuar pose in response and continued spinning on one foot. 

Lunafreya laughed behind her hands. Luce was the definition of energetic. “Is she always this jubilant?” 

“I think it was the free hotel coffee,” he chuckled and rested his elbows on his knees. “But mostly it’s the moment. She’s always been good at just living in it.” “I wish I could share in such a talent,” Luna admitted. “These days, my life moves far too fast for me to distinguish one day from the next…” The truth in her words stung. Sixteen years old and this was the first time in a long time that she could merely sit and breathe. And even better with friends at her side. 

Faust was looking at her now, not even trying to hide it this time. She saw forests in his eyes and he saw oceans in hers. “Who are you really?” he asked wistfully. He was closer now. When had he gotten close? It didn’t matter because now their noses were almost touching and she found his fingers to tangle her own in. 

“I cannot tell you…” 

“Why not…?” 

Faust smelled like a seabreeze up close, and she hoped that the odd smell of her hair didn’t bother in. “Say my true name and I will disappear…” 

Prudence cleared her throat extremely loudly, alerting them that she was in fact still there on the balcony with them. Faust retreated first, and even under the pale light of the moon she could see how scarlet his cheeks had become. She too felt her own cheeks burning but couldn’t hide the smile on her face. When the crowd suddenly went into an uproar, they knew that it was time. 

The red haired songstress strode barefoot onto the stage in a blue dress that moved like smoke. She waved gracefully at her audience and even stood on the tip of her toes so that those in the back were acknowledged as well. Luna stood up and rested her arms on the balcony in awe as the singer tapped a tambourine and cued her bandmates to begin. Seeing the actual thing was far different from listening to her records alone in her room. Here Lunafreya was in Altissia with hundreds of other people, all of them there to celebrate together. She had never felt so connected to a large crowd. 

Now she knew how Luce felt. 

Aranea arrived to the hotel room during the second song with a “sorry I’m late but I can't park in the sky” pizza. She had worn red latex pants and a black vest with a white short sleeve shirt underneath. Prudence shot up immediately and shoved out a greeting hand. 

“I’m Prudence. And you’re gorgeous.” 

“Nice to meet you, Prudence And-you’re-gorgeous,” the commodore smirked. “I’m Aranea. Stella’s friend.” 

Luna smiled appreciatively. “We reserved the recliner chair for you.” 

The songstress was an expert at building up momentum. The first half of the album was a nice and slow slew, but towards the middle the rhythm was faster and the bass stronger. Luna found herself singing along but toned down her expertise range so as not to stand out among Luce and Prudence. Faust knew some of the words but settled for swaying himself to the tune instead. Aranea simply laid back as far as the recliner would allow and closed her eyes, the only indication of her enjoying the concert being the tapping of her fingers on the arm rest and an occasional shake of her foot. 

Luna leaned down to whisper near Aranea’s ear. “I cannot express my gratitude in that you attended this with me today.” 

“You’re welcome, Blue-nafreya,” Aranea responded with a playful tug to her hair. “You know pirate boy’s been eyeing you more than the concert.” 

Lunafreya dared a glance in Faust’s direction. As if sensing her, he slid his eyes to her and smiled. A firework burst and glittered in the sky and highlighted his features. There was a genuine youth and love for life in him that she wished she had herself. 

Aranea whistled lowly and patted Luna’s hand. “Go get some candy, girl.” 

Luna stood and dusted the pizza crumbs off of her dress. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she walked towards Faust and extended her hand. “Dance with me?” 

He smiled sheepishly as he took her hand. “I’ve got two left feet. Just so you know.” 

“Then I will have two right feet. We’ll compensate for each other.” Luna learned from various steppings on her toes that Faust was in fact a terrible dancer. Halfway through she decided to take over as the lead and he gladly followed her. She spun him like a dainty flower and when she dipped him, he mocked a swoon and batted his eyelashes. Aranea and the twins laughed at their performance. 

The concert came to its close. The songstress waved goodbye to her audience and took a grateful bow, speaking her thanks into the microphone and blowing out kisses. The group returned the chairs and couch cushions to their proper spots in the room and occupied the beds, tossing cherries to one another and trying to catch it in their mouths. Faust took out his phone to check the time. 

“The train will be here soon. We should get going.” The twins shared a groan as they got up from the bed. “Aw come on, didn’t you have fun?” 

“Well yeah, but that doesn’t mean I wanna leave,” Luce yawned. “But I am kinda tired. And I need to write about this in my journal before I fall asleep.” 

“I’ll give you all a lift,” Aranea offered as she rose up. “Ever rode in an airship?” 

“Never.” Prudence breathed with wide eyes. 

“Well this is a secret, so if anyone asks then your answer will be no.” 

Lunafreya made sure to leave a nice pile of gil on the pillowcase before she exited the room with the others. Aranea took the lead with Prudence at her side and questioning her eagerly, Luce skipping in the middle, and Luna and Faust trailing behind in the back. 

“So…,” Faust began. “Will you tell me your real name?” 

“I believe that you already know. All you have to do is say it.” 

"It’s...You’re Luna-” 

Lunafreya pushed him behind a tall potted plant and sealed her mouth over his. 

The topic of courting had been one that Ardyn categorized under powerplay; it was meant to be calculated carefully. Lunafreya may have been of age to be married off but Nifelheim would only offer her to whoever could strengthen them. This meant that whoever she would marry would be completely without her say in the matter. She was a pawn without an opinion, nothing more than a piece to be moved on the board. 

So kissing Faust was like breaking all of the rules and Luna enjoyed every second of it. It was irrational and senseless to kiss a stranger that she had known for less than a day but that was the point. She was still a teenager, and never again would she be allowed the blissful indulgences of being rebellious and unpredictable. There was freedom in the kiss. If the next one was to be decided for her, she at least knew that she had chosen this one. And it didn’t hurt that Faust was also a decent kisser. 

They parted ways at the train since Aranea would give Lunafreya a ride home. They waved goodbye to their company through the train car window as it slowly began to chug forward. Luce blew fog onto the window and traced out a heart. Prudence drew the letter A into it and blew a kiss that Aranea pretended to catch and laughed. Faust pressed his hand to the window and smiled at Luna, giving her a light wave. She waved back as the train departed. 

Aboard Aranea’s airship, Lunafreya changed her clothes in the ship’s cockpit and wiped at her hair with a wet towel. She joined Aranea in the pilot’s quarters and strapped herself into the passenger seat. “The dye refuses to part with me…” 

“Just say you fell and rolled in some grass. Or you were healing a family of painters.” Aranea shrugged as she steered the ship. “Anyway, I’m proud of you, highness.” 

Luna smiled. “You are?” 

“Yeah. Keep taking initiative like that and you’ll have the world bowing to you.” 

Luna’s smile faltered a little. She didn’t want the world to bow. She wanted to live among them and go to concerts, fish on the coast of Galdin Quay, maybe even kiss a few more times. As they crossed over the ocean and stirred up the water with their turbulence, Luna realized that it was back to life and back to reality. 

Still, the night had been a miraculous one.


	6. Sacrifices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For anyone a bit lost, this chapter is two years after the last one. Lunafreya is eighteen years old now!

Dreams were a hazy type of thing. Lunafreya considered them to be her temporary escape from reality and clung to them tightly with slippery hands whenever she could. Her dream-self was currently lying among the sylleblossom fields and catching fireflies on her fingertips. They glowed in all colors and cast a kaleidoscope of hues on her pale skin. Above her the sky was full of shooting stars and some of them landed near her, sending a gentle ripple of air among the flowers on impact. Lunafreya stood up quickly and ran through the nearest field, laughing heartily with her arms spread out wide.

“Lunafreya!” Someone was shaking her awake and somewhat violently. “Sister!”

Luna batted and shoved away the hands that were gripping her. It was bad enough that she was having a harder time falling asleep, but now a pleasant dream had been interrupted. She was even more annoyed when she saw it was her brother. “Stop, Ravus! You will shake my head off of my shoulders…” She grabbed her blanket to pull over her head but her brother yanked it back.

“There is a daemon, Lunafreya…”

Forget about the dream. This had become a nightmare.

Luna quickly sat up in her bed and met him with wide eyes. “What…?”

“It appeared in the Helianthus region.” He was whispering now that he had her attention. “The mages reported their sighting discreetly. We must depart immediately. Keep your gown but gather a coat.”

Lunafreya climbed out of her bed and ran to her wardrobe while Ravus made for the door. She decided on a white fur-trimmed coat that she had gotten on her seventeenth birthday and followed her brother out to the manor stairs. Lunafreya noticed that the MTs on guard on the doors didn’t so much as look at them. “The MTs...why are they not…?”

“I temporarily deactivated them,” Ravus explained as he skipped some of the stair steps. He explained no further as they exited the manor and stepped out into the cool night. The Hunter’s Moon was full and yellow, giving a strange sepia tint as the only source of light. Luna followed her brother to an awaiting hover carriage but the driver was missing. Before the question could be asked, Ravus opened the carriage door. Ardyn was already sitting inside.

“A wondrously bright evening to you, my lady Lunafreya,” Ardyn greeted with a tip of his hat.

“It is night. Not evening…” Luna mumbled as she climbed inside the red velvet interior and took her seat. Ardyn chuckled as he climbed out and Ravus climbed in. 

“Semantics, my dear. Either way it is not morning.” He said no more as he pulled himself up into the driver’s stoop. Ravus shut the door and sat across from his sister. The hover carriage shot forward in a less than desirable speed and both of the occupants gripped the edges of their seats. While half of her mind focused on not tumbling other, the other half pondered on how a daemon could have appeared. Daemons in Tenebrae were under Nifelheim’s control, so for one to be sighted where there were no military bases in Helianthus was beyond unusual. For Ardyn to be accompanying them must have meant that he wanted to investigate the oddity as well.

“Sister…” Ravus sighed. “My apologies for our reunion to be under drastic circumstances.”

Luna pressed her lips together tightly. Ravus had been gone for nearly two years and this had been her first time seeing him since. He had left four months prior to her sneaking off to that concert a year ago and she had not received word nor a single letter. She imagined that he had fallen in love with the capitol city Gralea and would never come back. Maybe he had gotten the title that he so desperately wanted and had been off fighting against Lucis despite their history with the monarchs. To be quite frank, she was frustrated with him having abandoned her. With his longer hair and more gaunt face he could have been a new man entirely.

“I will not forgive you.” She huffed bitterly. “No letters. No assurance of your safety. Did you receive the army that you so desired? You seem to have returned empty handed.”

Ravus huffed back. “You are aware of the caution that Nifelheim takes in communication. I was not allowed to contact you. Nor was I to send anything. It was by the fortune of the Six that I was permitted to send you your current coat for your birthday.”

Had she not been cold, Lunafreya would have thrown the coat out of the carriage. “I would have preferred a brother to a coat.” She could fight with him until the sun rose but he wouldn’t understand. They had lost their mother, for a short time Pryna had been missing before returning from the generous care of a young boy in Noctis’s class, and Maria had been less active with her increasing age and declining health. The poor old woman had taken to a cane these days and remaining on the first floor to avoid the arduous stairs. But of course, Ravus would not know that because he had not been there.

“You are being a child.”

“_You_ are being a child.” Luna turned towards the carriage window and Ravus did the same. The argument had been silently declared to be over.

The hover carriage pulled into the Helianthus region an hour later. It was named thusly so for it’s endless field of sunflowers, all tilted to follow the bath of the sun and as bright as canaries. The accompanying village had houses built with white bricks and brown roof tiles. Clothes lines with clipped shirts and trousers hung between pathways and underpasses while shop signs swung in the faint breeze. A woman in a white and red triangle patterned robe stood and watched them approach with the leashes of three chocobos in her hands. Ardyn parked the hover carriage in the clearing and opened the door. “All ashore who’s going ashore.”

“Where is the Daemon?” Luna inquired as she exited.

“Shhhhhh.” Ardyn warned with a finger to his lips. “Let us not announce to the whole village that a creature of darkness is on the prowl...”

“The mages reported it near the lake,” Ravus informed her quietly and turned to the nearing woman. “Sister Dahlia.”

“Lord Ravus,” the woman responded as she handed him a leash. She was dark skinned and sported a magenta bob that curled around her neck. “I already sent my sisters to the site. They’re stalling but there’s still a long while before the sun rises.” At this she turned to Lunafreya and bowed at her waist. “Lady Lunafreya.”

“Sister Dahlia…” Lunafreya acknowledged politely, but her eyes were on the white chocobo. She had never gotten to ride one before and she chided herself for not quite focusing on the matter at hand. “I will see to this Daemon immediately. I do pray that your sisters will not be harmed in their noble efforts to keep it at bay.”

“Formalities addressed, we should get going,” Ardyn commented as he seated himself on his chocobo. “The night is still young, afterall. And the sisters can only do so much without the Oracle.”

Sister Dahlia helped Lunafreya into her saddle and adjusted her hands on the reigns. “Teaspoon is merciful but she’s fast. Cling to her with your thighs and keep your back straight for balance. Never let go of the reigns.”

Lunafreya gripped the thick reins and nodded her head. She flicked her wrists and Teaspoon surged forward. The motion snatched Luna’s head and neck back but she was quick to regain her composure. The rest of the party followed behind her, and though Sister Dahlia was technically leading the way, Teaspoon always jutted out her beak that she was first in line. Lunafreya laughed and caressed the feathers at the bird’s neck. Underneath the full moon and with her nightgown waving behind her like a flag, she felt like a gallivanting hero from an old fairy tale.

But every fairy tale has their monster.

They were lead to clearing of grass so all that it brushed their ankles even with the added height of the chocobos. Beyond the grass was a lake constantly rippling from the sisters trudging within it, ll of them clutching open books and reciting spells. Towering over them and swiping out a long clad hand was a Daemon that resembled a three headed dog. Cerberus Daemons were a common signature of Nifelheim’s dark army, so to see one hear was a definite confirmation that it had to have escaped from one of the bases. If Ardyn had this prior knowledge, his stony face was refusing to show it. He looked surprisingly blank faced for someone usually so theatrical, although Lunafreya guessed that it was probably because he was debating which general was responsible for such a slip up.

Teaspoon came to a sudden spot and kwehed, not daring to move any further as the other chocobos voiced similar resistance. Lunafreya threw her legs over to the same side and slide down, landing waist deep in the grass and tying the end of her nightgown around her knees for better mobility. She patted the chocobos neck, hoping to receive enough comfort in it to ease her nerves. This would be the first Daemon that she ever first, and one of such a grand size was not going to be an easy feat. “Send me your blessings, Teaspoon…” she whispered as she reluctantly pulled away from the bird and pushed aside the grass to walk through.

Ravus grabbed her hand, stopping her. “Sister.”

She turned to him, seeing the worry on his face. “Brother?”

Whatever he was going to say never reached the air because he suddenly shoved her away. Laying back in the grass, a long black paw swiped over her head and batted Ravus hard to the side. “Ravus!” She crouched in the tall grass and crawled forward blindly, trying to find where her brother had fallen. The sounds of the night began to erupt into a panic.Ardyn was barking orders and Sister Dahlia suddenly appeared and yanked Luna upward.

“It’s headed to the town! You have to catch it!’

“But Ravus-”

“Focus!” Sister Dahlia put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Teaspoon came running from her safe perch and Lunafreya mounted her quickly. “I’ll tend to Ravus and my sisters but _you have to go_!”

Only now did Luanfreya notice the bodies floating face down in the lake. She cringed and yanked on the reigns, directing Teaspoon after the Cerberus as it tore of the earth beneath it’s paws. Ardyn was hot on its trail with his own chocobo, every now and then stabbing at its hind quarters. The Cerberus barked and snapped one of its heads at him, making Ardyn’s chocobo lurch and dodge just barely. Lunafreya urged Teaspoon onward to run at Ardyn’s side.

“I don’t think I have to spell out how quickly we should finish the job,” Ardyn huffed and adjusted his tilted hat.

“Slow it if you can!” Lunafreya shouted and gained speed so that she was running in front of them all. Noticing her, the Cerberus growled and chased after its new target. Lunafreya yanked the reigns hard right, turning Teaspoon with it and directing the Daemon away from the town. She needed her trident but she couldn’t summon it while still holding the reigns. Looking back, she saw that Ardyn was running circles around the beast and distracting it. It gave her just enough time to leap off of Teaspoon and roll into the grass. Her knees bruised and her legs stained green, but she stood quickly and called the trident to her hand. “Ardyn!”

The Chancellor moved into action and headed her way, leading the Daemon with him. It snarled and bared all three sets of fangs, ready to have something bleeding between them. “Don’t disappoint!” Ardyn shouted as he sped past her.

“I don’t intend to.” Raising a single hand, Lunafreya focused all of her energy into her hand. Her senses become hyper aware: the cold air on her skin, the sounds of the wind between the glass blades, the stench of the chocobos and the soft down of a loose feather trapped in her coat sleeve. She thought of Tenebrae, its people, Maria. Her brother, who limped to her side and pressed a hand to her shoulder, unknowingly fueling her need to protect everyone and everything that depended on her. She squinted her eyes.

And released a wall of light.

The Cerberus collided directly into it, making some of the light splinter and spark but otherwise still held strong. Luna flicked her hand upward sharply, and the wall bent and wrapped tightly around the creature. The Daemon howled at as the energy seared through its inky black fur, making dark specs of it float as it disintegrated. More and more of the creature began to give away to ash and join the breeze until there was nothing left but melting bone. The violet, black veined heart was now exposed in the decaying rib cage.

“There…,” Lunafreya breathed, and turned to her brother. “Together.” Ravus nodded.

Trident and rapier drawn, the Fleuret siblings dashed forward and pierced deep into the exposed heart. The thick organ spurted out black liquid and melted into the soil until there was nothing left of it, and the bones withered and joined it. The only indication that a Daemon had been present was the specs of black floating skyward.

Sighing, Ravus pressed his hands to his knees and Luna leaned against his bent back. The relief was short lived, as Sister Dahlia came up with a comrade clinging to her. The younger sister was blond with two low ponytails curled over her shoulders. There was a very prominent gash encompassing her entire left cheek and her eyes were barely staying open. Ardyn was also carrying another over his shoulder, and though her body was limp she was still breathing.

“The others didn’t make it…” Sister Dahlia explained in as even as a voice that she could manage despite her quivering lip. Ravus and Lunafreya straightened, both of them wearing identical faces of sympathy and regret.

“Sister Dahlia…” Luna began. “I am...no apology can…” She couldn’t find the words to express exactly how she felt. Remorseful? Yes. Regretful? Definitely. Had she been faster or smarter or anything that what she was, maybe she could have saved the sisters’ lives. As appraised as the Oracle was for all of her feats, it was an unspoken burden that she could not save everyone.

Sister Dahlia shook her head quickly to stop the tears from falling. “My sisters were honored to help the Oracle’s cause. Right, Sister Lily…?”

The younger sister, Sister Lily, barely croaked her response. She was clearly clinging to consciousness as best as she could but still struggling.

“Their service to Tenebrae will be honored,” Ravus said finally. “If you would provide us with their names, we will immortalize them as heroes.”

“And provide proper service,” Lunafreya added quickly, feeling the need to say something. Sister Dahlia instructed for Teaspoon to sit and then followed Ardyn and Ravus to collect the bodies from the lake. The giant bird obliged, making a backrest for Sister Lily to lean against. Lunafreya knelt before her and cupped her face gently, transferring her energy into her face so that it healed over the clawed flesh. The blood slicked her fingers but she didn’t care; it was a small burden compared to the four sisters that had lost much more than blood.

They loaded the bodies into the cart that the sisters had previously arrived in and entered the town through a back road. Sister Poppy, Sister Violet, Sister Ursinia and her biological sibling, Sister Zinnia. All women who had dedicated their lives to the study of magic, to be useful whenever the Oracle could not be present. Though Lunafreya had never had the fortune of meeting them properly, she would mourn each and everyone of them.

Everyone had rooms waiting for them in an inn, and Lunafreya was eager to isolate herself from the rest of the party. She locked the room door and pressed her back against it, sliding down and wrapping her arms around her knees. She had failed as the Oracle. No one was supposed to die, and in the circumstances that death was a possibility she was supposed to turn fate in her favor. Guilt paraded over all of the emotions that roared within her. She had gotten lazy, too careless. She desired too much and that had gotten in the way. She should have known better. She should have-

Someone knocked. “Lady Lunafreya.”

It was Ardyn, the person that she wanted to see least of all. Blaming herself had been her way of coping, but the reality really was that Nifelheim was responsible. Lunafreya stood quickly and thrust the door open, not bothering to hide her anguish.

The Chancellor’s hands went up in defense. “Easy,” he said in a tone that dared to be light despite the circumstances. He even had the audacity to smile. “I merely came to check on your mental state.”

“This is not the first circumstance that you have made light of my reaction to death.”

“Well, I’d say that the Cerberus wasn’t the only one that had claws.” Lunafreya started closing the door and he said quickly, “Lady Lunafreya! A word please.” Lunafreya threw her hands in the air and walked to the bed, sitting at it and tapping her foot to make her impatience obvious. The Chancellor shut the door behind him but remained there. He pressed his fingertips together and took a deep breath.

“What happened today...did not happen.”

“_What_?” Luna squinted. “Chancellor, I believe that it most certainly _did happen_-”

“My lady,” he interjected, his voice now completely serious. “Nifelheim’s error does not need to be made public. There is an image to uphold. The nation of absolute control needs to consistently appear as such.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “And what of the deaths of the mage sisters? Did that not happen as well? You intend to hide the unquestionable truth with two witnesses?”

Ardyn’s smirk returned. "What witnesses?" 

Lunafreya reeled back in horror and stood. “You would make the remaining sisters lie…they have lost their comrades and you would make them lie…”

“The seed of doubt is a self-growing plant, Lunafreya.” said Ardyn. “Nifelheim makes no errors and there is no room for doubts.”

Lunafreya didn’t care for whatever other metaphorical nonsense he had to say. She pushed past him and exited her room, taking the steps two at a time and finding Sister Dahlia and Sister Lily seated at a table in the den of the inn. They were pressing their palms together with their eyes closed, muttering prayers over the folded red and white robes of their fallen sisters. The tears streaming down their cheeks glinted from the firelight of the fireplace. In the embers of the fireplace, Luna could see where the abandoned spell books of the fallen sisters had been tossed in. The den smelled like burning paper.

“Forgive us, sisters,” she heard Sister Dahlia whimper. “Please, forgive us…”

Lunafreya was rooted where she stood. Her own tears came then, salty and ugly and dripping down to her chin where they collected in fat droplets. She had to lie about her mother’s death at the hands of Nifeheim. What a fool she was to think that they wouldn’t make her lie again.

Ravus’s arm wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against him, softly sobbing. She had wanted to speak to Sister Dahlia and Sister Lily, but there was nothing that she could say to make this right. Instead she hiccuped into her hands and shut her eyes, indulging in Ravus’ comfort for as long as he would allow. Her brother stroked her hair softly, as their mother would do when one of them was upset.

“It is for the best…for Nifelheim’s sake...” she heard him whisper. And of all of the things that he could have said that was the worst. She pulled away from him then and headed back up the stairs to her rented room. Pen to her hand, she wrote down the names of the lost mage sisters as a reminder to note them properly on paper later. No one would see her until morning.


End file.
